G’day got given some railway sleepers today, I’d love to make something great out of them rather than them get used as garden edging. Any one got any ideas? (Length 9 ft)
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G’day got given some railway sleepers today, I’d love to make something great out of them rather than them get used as garden edging. Any one got any ideas? (Length 9 ft)
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a27e92781e.jpg
Be aware that they will/ maybe full of sand and will destroy saw blades. As a veg garden edge you may find that they have been treated in creosote which is now banned but as a flower garden edge they may be ok.
Mike
Thanks, I have since pressure washed them came up pretty clean. Not sure if we used Creosote in Australia on our sleepers, but I’m not 100% sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by groverwa
I remember back in the 1980's using sleepers for all sorts of landscaping, and prior to any installation creosote was used on every sleeper.
Plus they used to use asbestos brake pads on the trains and many are impregnated with the dustQuote:
Originally Posted by cava
Yup and if you breathe air you inhale all those carcinogenics, natural or man made.
A bit of creosote on a sleeper on the edge of your garden bed poses less health risk to you then crossing the street barefoot. Bituminous tar is creosote, different consistancy but exactly the same stuff.
I wouldn't eat off them or use them for food prep... and hey the crapper on a train used to be a hole through the floor... but don't be paranoid about the risk factors either. Dress the outside 1/4" away and any treatment previously applied will be gone
I had post prepared before saying just that, and I thought "nah, they'll think you're para" so I didn't post it :DQuote:
Originally Posted by dai sensei
The risk of creosote may not be as bad as you think for leeching in a garden. I did quite a bit of research 18 months ago when my vege garden was under construction. Apparently creo doesn't leech out of the timber very much and the amount of take up by plants is minimal, so kind of a 3/5 of 5/8 of SFA situation. Keep the plants about 30cm away from the sleepers.
And as John says, it doesn't penetrate very far into the timber, esp hardwood like Ironbark.
Heaps of stuff you can make out of it, google is your friend.
I'll have to agree with other posters though, would never use railway sleepers for anything other than around garden beds, for what they are worth compared to the value of my health, machinery and time I don't see the benefit of it.
However since you've already got them I do suggest getting a metal detector before sending it through any machine, if you've watched any videos or seen how they get removed i'd be surprised if you don't find something in them. Running a slab of timber with some nails in it is depressing, hitting a rail spike that has snapped inside... would hate to imagine what that'll do to a thicky.
Well I guess if you can ascertain an absence of nails, spikes etc, then all the potential nasties will be on or embedded in the surface. So rather than thickness or joint off the outer 6-10mm skin, if you could somehow run it through a bandsaw which will not turn the outer layer into dust (asbestos fibres) or have to go through any embedded grit etc.
Having said that - I know how much these suckers weigh - it might be tricky getting them through a band saw.
Hit them with a pressure cleaner.
I did give it a go, they come up nice. Not sure what I’m going to do now though, everyone’s made some good pointsQuote:
Originally Posted by John.G
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I think that they would make absoleutly faaaaaabuuulooous pallets
Ken
Something like this?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcBwKIeh...mber_furniture
No ... that's a coffee table !! the sleepers would make great pallets