Thread: Newbie Melbourne seeking Timber Sleeper Milling

What about a belt sander? Assuming these are recycled /used real sleepers they will have ballast/gravel embedded which will destroy any cutting edge in no time.

Originally Posted by Sheepy

Hey there, I am trying to find somewhere in South East Suburbs of Melbourne that would mill two faces of AA grade Timber Sleepers. I am using these for our front fence, placing them upright. I would oil these dressed sides. They are 2.5m long. I guess a large table saw may do the trick? I am aware the blades are prone to damage as they are solid weathered wood - Jarrah I believe - to be confirmed. I have 20 of these to do. Appreciate any suggestions

I'd leave them "as is" because unless you paint them nothing will prevent them from "greying". Oil will lasts a few months at most before visible degradation.

Thanks Russ57, i'll look into this option

Thanks BobL, thanks for the info, not what I was expecting

Do you think a wood a stain eg Jarrah or similar brown-reddish stain stop or slow the greying ?

Originally Posted by Sheepy

Thanks BobL, thanks for the info, not what I was expecting

Do you think a wood a stain eg Jarrah or similar brown-reddish stain stop or slow the greying ?

nope.
delay it,maybe.
sorry to be the bearer of bad news

a marine varnish will help maintain the redness look, however maintaining the varnish is of course going to be a PITA

Originally Posted by Sheepy

Thanks BobL, thanks for the info, not what I was expecting

Do you think a wood a stain eg Jarrah or similar brown-reddish stain stop or slow the greying ?

A UV resistant stain will help a bit but not much - besides I reckon it looks unattractive when it ages and goes grey in streaks. In the 1970s I built a jarrah pergola and only got around to staining about half and I was sorry I did it at all. I used a marine grade varnish on 7 jarrah window frames in the 1980's, within 2 years they looked very ordinary s0 strip and revarnish but two years later I just painted them with Dulux Weathershield and even when they were repainted 20 years later the paint still looked OK.

hi sheepy, i've done exactly this before for a client who is a landscaper. the finish on the sleepers look absolutely brilliant.
using a lucas mill, the top can be taken off the sleeper reasonably quickly. the unknown part is how thick the sleeper will remain, as there is a certain amount of twist in the timber. Where the cracks,fissures and holes appear in the new timber reveal dark lines in the sleeper. In my honest opinion it is one of the best looks ever and one you can't manufacture and well worth the effort to go to if you have deep pockets. the other posters are correct in their answers about upkeep. using any type of deck stain as they are pigmented with uv stabilisers which slows the greying of timber. The bigger problem is actually identifying the timber, chances are and given you have 20 sleepers, they won't all be the same. ive seen clients buy a pack of used sleepers (40) to get 10 good ones.

Originally Posted by charlsie

hi sheepy, i've done exactly this before for a client who is a landscaper. the finish on the sleepers look absolutely brilliant.
using a lucas mill, the top can be taken off the sleeper reasonably quickly. the unknown part is how thick the sleeper will remain, as there is a certain amount of twist in the timber. Where the cracks,fissures and holes appear in the new timber reveal dark lines in the sleeper. In my honest opinion it is one of the best looks ever and one you can't manufacture and well worth the effort to go to if you have deep pockets. the other posters are correct in their answers about upkeep. using any type of deck stain as they are pigmented with uv stabilisers which slows the greying of timber. The bigger problem is actually identifying the timber, chances are and given you have 20 sleepers, they won't all be the same. ive seen clients buy a pack of used sleepers (40) to get 10 good ones.

Thanks charlsie, I initially obtained a quote from someone using a similar machine - could be a lucas mill, I'm unsure what they have. Sounds like i'll chase them up again based on your experience. Appreciate the post and will update results, thank you !

it's strange how things work hey! i've just returned from doing a quote to mill AA grade redgum sleepers into decking boards. Since i am only to cut up to 213mm the client has agreed for me to cut the 250mm sleeper to width first giving a straight edge to the board and then take off boards at approx 25mm (to be determined) A deal was struck that i will work for 4hour minimum ($500) and blade replacement.
For those interested, i run 6 blades with 2 generally being in transit to or from sawquip bendigo as most of my milling is done on suburban logs and it's certainly not unusual to take the tips off 3 blades in a day. anyway i'll try and get photos posted by sunday night

well after a couple weeks of trying to beat the weather, myself and the two offsiders have racked up 16 hours on the machine and have managed to cut 45 sleepers into boards with minimal damage to the blades. it works out to cost around $40-$50 per sleeper to cut. we have one person constantly cleaning/checking sleepers while the other two cut and stack