Thread: ex garden bed x railway sleepers

Sleepers are probably redgum.DSCN0028.jpg Not from sleepers (fenceposts & house stumps)about 15 or more years old now. the light timber is old house framing. 8 drawer TV unit.

and Iam guessing an Arbortec or similar has been put to use. Very unusal and likeable

Tonyz

Are these "garden" sleepers or are they railway sleepers that have been used in the garden. There is quite a difference. Railway sleepers are a mongrel of the first order for cutting as they have been subjected to years od metal dust and gravel not to mention they were probably very hard to begin with as only the most durable species were used. I would reckon on sharpening the chain saw up to four times per tankful, providing you don't hit an immoveable mass at any point. If that happens you may have to replace the chain!

Garden sleepers, as sold at large green sheds, are different being both smaller and not typically the same species. They are also often still green. The hardwood versions are poor performers in the ground as the treatment is surface only.

Regards
Paul

Ps: wood spirit's fence posts (likely above ground section) are a different proposition, but came up amazingly!.

I agree with Paul's posting.

The "garden sleepers" sold in green sheds around here are almost always from the crappiest pine available.

I use a lot of repurposed timber, and if I was able to source some genuine ralway sleepers then I would be a little more drastic than Paul:

• initial clean up with a Karcher high pressure hose to remove all surface grit,
• Then, plane all surfaces with Makita planer with sacrificial blades to reveal hidden problems,
• the cut, relatively worry free.

Last time I bought genuine railway sleepers they were new but had been creosote treated. They were used in the garden and lasted 30 years.

Later, I learned of the dangers of creosote, but I am still alive! Allegedly, the unions banned creosote treated sleepers and their bosses sat on the problem for 20 years. Eventually they got sold - someone elses problem, or blissfully unaware (like me).

what I have are genuine railway sleepers been buried in beach sand and clay foe 20 years plus, some still have rusted spikes in them.

Some will be used as firewood no hesitation, others as Greame has mentioned will possibly get a good blasting. load onto trailer and visit local car wash late at night then let water pressure at least have a go. Thinking blast with water stand vertical and let dry off few weeks, high pressure air gun, then repeat process until clean as possible then with big blade on band saw cut 30mm thick slices off each side. finish with some very rustic pieces and some (more) jarrah/redum sq logs.

Originally Posted by Tonyz

what I have are genuine railway sleepers been buried in beach sand and clay foe 20 years plus, some still have rusted spikes in them.

Some will be used as firewood no hesitation, others as Greame has mentioned will possibly get a good blasting. load onto trailer and visit local car wash late at night then let water pressure at least have a go. Thinking blast with water stand vertical and let dry off few weeks, high pressure air gun, then repeat process until clean as possible then with big blade on band saw cut 30mm thick slices off each side. finish with some very rustic pieces and some (more) jarrah/redum sq logs.

Tonyz

In principle you are approaching the task well: Until you mentioned "bandsaw." I think you might find that very difficult. If you have a tungsten tipped blade it might be better.

Where I used to live the local sawmill had a bandsaw mill. The blade wasn't huge compared to some. I think it might have been 150mm to 200mm wide. Not in variable width, you understand ( ), but I can't recall the dimensions exactly. They absolutely refused to cut Ironbark, which is probably the first, although not only choice, for railway sleepers. That was green logs and not the hard, bitter and twisted specimens you may have even after they are blasted.

By all means give it a go, perhaps with a small piece as a trial, but don't be surprised if the bandsaw turns up it's teeth ridiculously quickly: I hope I am wrong with the prognosis, but.......

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

If you have a tungsten tipped blade it might be better.

This. Multiple spare blades would be a good idea too. Personally I prefer a chainsaw to clean up the outside faces and even then I spend more time sharpening than I'd desire.

Depending on what sort of 'carving' you mean, it may be better to simply power-wash, dry, then attack the outside faces with a 'leccy belt sander so you get a clear idea of how the grain lies and where any embedded materials are likely to be. Then plan your carving accordingly and 'work around' the problem areas.

If, however, you also hope to get planks, etc. out of 'em, then Yeah. You'll want spare blades and/or chains.. It has been a few years since I last ripped one down, but I'm sure one or two used sleepers per sharpening session was about my best when dressing the outside faces with a chainsaw.

Tonyz, I have never seen the need for air blasting. Just water blast, then dry overnight.

I just use the Makita planer as a scrub plane to get down to clean timber and then most nasties are clearly visible. The blades have taken a battering, big gouges where they have discovered metal or rocks, so they leave ridges on the surface. This doesn't matter - scrub plane. Although they are disposable blades, I do sharpen them with a diamond plate, when absolutely necessary. Rough as, ... but it works quickly and easily.

I never use a saw before the above step, simply because I do not want to find a nasty with any saw blade.

Appreciate all the help and information.
My thinking is grab just grab 2 of the best and slowly work on them and fire recycle the rest.

Wife would be very happy if I used or sold some of my timber pile instead of collecting more, not that I hear what she says all the time.

I have selective hearing.......you werent selected

A mate and I bought old sleepers from Burwood tip about 30 years ago for $1 each.
They came from McDonaldtown yards and were 80 plus years old.
The council thought they could cut them up with a chainsaw and sell as firewood.
Didn’t work so they were clearing what they could before burying the rest.
The mate’s Toyota stout had it’s front wheels off the road 90% of the trip back to my shed.
I cut them in two on the 30” Wadkin bandsaw (3/4” skip tooth blade) then docked them to fit in the slow combustion stove on my Wadkin PK with an 18” rip blade.
They would burn all night, best firewood ever.
The mate used his in the garden.
H.

Have a look at this free (in pdf form) book, How to Build a Raised-Bed Garden How to Build a Raised Bed Garden.



It provides machine shop specs for a steel-frame mould (the green frame on each end in the photo) where 300x50 timbers can be cut to length (making longest bed say 6m+). The mould is set on the garden, and filled with local crushed rock and cement... typically cheaper quarry Gap 40 rather than expensive Builders Mix... to make what might be called weak concrete. A day later it is removed and after a week curing, the first raised bed is ready to be filled with garden soil. Wet plastic pipes are sunk into the concrete to hold bird/bunny hoops for protective mesh netting. You also can install irrigation pipe before pouring, so watering comes from below.

There are multiple advantages over sleepers. Toxins can take decades to cause illness and eventual disability/death, and tracking the cause is difficult. But using sleepers with toxins is a risk factor, whereas weak concrete is non-toxic. In addition, if the sun warms the concrete sides, the growing season is extended due to the warmer micro-climate in the soil. Building them involves a lot less work than cutting sleepers, and the materials are not particularly expensive. Weak concrete gets harder over the years, and such raised beds will last hundreds of years. If kept up with a slurry surface (sand and cement), slugs will try to climb up the outside, but fall off and be eaten by the birds.

Take the specs to a machine shop (or if you are handy with steel cutting and welding, DIY) and order the end units. Once you are done, pass them around the neighbourhood.

I realise this is a wood working forum, but sometimes the best solution is a different medium.

Originally Posted by Villager

I realise this is a wood working forum, but sometimes the best solution is a different medium.

I think you missed the main point of the OP.
His aim is not to make garden beds but to use sleepers that were used in a garden.

certan things have moved faster than I expected. These will now be used as firewood. They were 25 years ago seating around a large firepit, I pulled them all up, sunk permapine posts into ground, bolted pallets to the posts, covered the pallets with recycled corro iron and used more pallets (very long ones) cut down to size as seating around said firepit.
I was going to cut the old sleepers down and recycle, but viewing my shed with a critical eye I dont need any more projects for 3-4 years so the fire can now recycle them into ash.

Whats the go with the price of ex-railway sleepers? only a few years ago you could buy 'B' Grade sleepers for $25 and 'C' Grade Sleepers for $15! Now this is more like:

'B' Grade - $50
'C' Grade - $40

These make awesome benches to sit on BUT numbs your bum after a whiles as it's like sitting on a rock!