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  1. #31
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    Oct 2018
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    Default

    Hello again DS. Wood in of itself is not hazardous (unless perhaps you get hit by a piece of it ). Only by working it and producing particles small enough to breath in, do you put yourself at risk. Hardwoods generally produce finer sawdust than softwoods and some timbers can create allergic reactions through increasing exposure. But there are plenty of ways to work timber that are very low risk (hand planing) and low risk (hand sawing). Power tools increase efficiency but at the cost of producing copious waste. This waste can be collected and exposure reduced significantly. I often think the greatest danger comes from the tools themselves but long term risk can be harder to measure. As a species we have been using wood for a very long time and most of us benefit daily from the shelter it provides. I am fortunate to live in a forest and work with timber everday. I am able to appreciate its beauty in all its guises. If you have anything specific to warn against, I hope I am not short sighted enough to ignore.

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  3. #32
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
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    Lost in Space
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    Default A few more ideas

    Hi Alex

    I can't bring myself to waste precious hardwoods or other timber on building a workbench which is to my mind a tool

    I recently made a Frankenstein Hybrid outta sheet goods and a RAck It Base from the Big Green shed .................. It Works!

    My approach was also inspired by Paul Sellers who is a lifetime Woodworker

    I Got a good Sheet of Plywood and just your standard stuff and interwaeved them into my laminations to bring down costs I made sure the Good stuff was used in my heavy traffic areas

    Shes about 50mm think which is all you'll need the great thing about the top is the end grain of the Plywood offers some texture to it and offers some grip to stock

    Not like the skating rinks you see with some of the finishes being laid down on the latest Roubo Craze

    I wasent phased for a second banging a few screws into the Bench top and its become my prized tool in my sardine sized single garage

    Its reasonably cheap and I never have to worry about seasonal movement and re flattening the Bench top that all those sorry souls using real timber have to do (and secretly dread)

    You could also try a Cosman Bench ......................... saving that coin your thinking of spending on Timber for your first few pieces

    Just a few thoughts left of field that may be worth considering!

    Regards Lou
    Just Do The Best You Can With What You HAve At The Time

  4. #33
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Tuncurry
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    51

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    @Mountain Ash: I don't know where you're going with this and you've taken us off the thread topic. Wood/working wood cannot be removed from the risks associated with it. The phrase "working safely" is a misnomer; there is always risk. With wood, it will be significant and varied. It doesn't matter if it's power tools, or hand tools, or your work practices, or if you use treated wood for a workbench (which is especially dangerous with likely catastrophic consequences), because wood is dangerous no matter what! It's just a question of how much risk and how you can minimize it, particularly for the more serious consequences (which are countless). One suggestion, is don't use treated wood for a work bench! I thought earlier in the thread, I had clearly explained that.

    I suggest you get out of your forest and see the wood from the trees, because you've shown you're way out of touch with reality. This idea that "Wood in of itself is not hazardous" is ludicrous; to argue you can separate wood from risk is not only silly, it may ultimately lead victims to experience unimaginable suffering. I would not want that on my conscience.

  5. #34
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Tuncurry
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    51

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by alex_australia View Post
    Hi all,
    ......
    2. Use recycled AA railway sleepers or similar
    So far what I have seen is that these go for approx. $40-$50 per l.m.
    Live around rousehill/windsor nsw area. Any suggestions were I could get good price for recycled hardwood? Some hidden award yard? Willing to to Richmond area if req.
    ......
    Thanks in advance for your feedback

    Regards,

    Alex
    Recycled railways sleepers is something to avoid utterly. They may contain asbestos and that's not the only thing that makes them extremely toxic; just don't do it!

    Remember what I said earlier in the thread about victims, who will end up wishing they could die, rather than suffer from the consequences of working with wood. Well, it may have sounded extreme, but it's not and it's hidden in plain sight. I just watched a story on the ABC, about someone who wishes they could have the right to die, who is now terminally ill, caused decades ago by working with wood. It emphasizes something else about potential dangers when working with wood, which is not even a revelation, but it's still critically important and that is: if you don't know the danger exists, or if you refuse to believe in it, you are still vulnerable to it, but not only that, you can't even try to avoid it. Talk to those suffering from asbestos related diseases now; most of them didn't even know they were killing themselves slowly and horrifically. Thirty year consequences might seem so far into the future, that it will never happen, but that's not actually the case. Also consider this; once you realize you have set in play, a most horrific long term fate, that you cannot escape from, well, that's no fun either. It will dwell on you, particularly when bad things start happening.

    So please don't build your bench out of railway sleepers.

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