4 Attachment(s)
Railway sleeper outdoor table
G'day Chaps.
Long time lurker, first time poster. I'm embarking on probably my biggest woodworking project since high school, building a table for my rear covered deck. The table top is recycled ironbark railway sleepers.
The legs I am welding together out of (130 x 6mm) flat steel bar, to give it a bold industrial sort of look. The timber being what it is has a lot of features; bolt holes, dings, and burn marks. So I'm wanting to keep it a bit rustic, but accentuate the beautiful colour and grain of the timber. I have a few questions:
1. After much reading through here, I've bought a tin of organoil outdoor furniture oil, and I've so far applied one coat to an off cut (see last photo). I'm pretty happy with the result so far. I'm thinking of doing another coat with polyurethane to see how that turns out. Any suggestions there?
2. I'm still undecided on whether to sand the surface of the table down to 180grit and have it smooth, or to leave it as it is with a slight grain feel. What would you do?
3. As you can see in the pics, there are stains from the cutting fluid they used at the mill. What would be the best way to get these off without sanding it back? I've got cabots deck clean, and napisan.
4. I'm also undecided about what to do with the edges of the table. a) leave them as they are with sharp 90 degree angles. b) lightly smooth them off by sanding c) buy an edging router and a 1/16" rounding bit. (That's $100+ investment there)
5. I've read that I should leave a gap between the boards to allow for expansion. So I planned for a 3mm gap. But since then I've seen loads of similar tables with no gap, which in my opinion does look better. Could I get away with no gap? Keep in mind this table will be under a covered outdoor deck, open to humidity but rarely getting wet.
Cheers
EDIT: Pics attached
Attachment 314499Attachment 314500Attachment 314501Attachment 314502