MidGAOutdoor

i also posted this in the design section. thought itd work here too.

i saw some cool. stuff made from RR ties. has anyone ever resawed a RR tie? im sure they play hell on blades. any thought

Dominick

Nope. To much creosote. Not good.

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When it's rustic......it's rustic

aardvark

Good RR ties are made of oak, but I agree w/ Dom.
The creosote is certainly not good to mess with, and you certainly don't want it indoors.

(Dom. I just came across a hollow log find in oak. I'll have a fight getting it home (no trailer) When I get it, and I might have to have you by for advice on legs for it . I'll send pix's)

fromtheforty

Don't do it. I sawed some dock pilings for a guy. They were treated with creosote. It took about 4 hours to do. I looked like a boiled lobster when I was done. It was cloudy that day. I basically had creosote burn. Just nasty. Will never do it again!

Geoff

Longknife

You should absolutely not do it! Creosote is a very nasty stuff. It's carcinogenic and can cause skin damage from just contact with impregnated wood, not to mention the hazards involved if you start milling it. Working with creosote impregnated wood (just handling it) requires a respirator, rubber gloves and an impregnated overall. Making furniture from it is a very, very bad idea.

ETWW

Yeah, creosote treated lumber is nasty stuff. It will make your children be born naked.

Seriously, it's not radioactive or anything but it will blister the skin if it gets on you. I have a friend who fenced his place with planks sawn from creosoted bridge timbers and he would look like a lobster when he was done sawing the stuff.

The smell of Creosote is not an odor I would want inside the house, either. I can't imagine building furniture with it.

aardvark

We spent 2 months putting in seawalls with them.
Handling and cutting wasn't too awful bad, but they were older repurposed ones from a rail line being removed. Not fresh coated, which could be a toxic mess.
We didn't see any adverse effects from them, "however" they were being used for a similar purpose, and we were wearing gloves.
Still, creosote is for the purpose of ground contact, and quite toxic for use in things like furniture where skin contact is common,,, and not good to breath on a continuous basis.
Also is sucks getting creosote on your clothes.
Reality is , since we installed the seawalls (11 in all x 60 ft long, ~ 6 ft. tall), codes have changed since the authorities don't want it leaching out into waterways. To me, that would be minimal at best, but they have determined otherwise.

Dominick

I'll contact you when I get back from up north. Sounds cool.

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When it's rustic......it's rustic

MidGAOutdoor

well i wonder how these folks are doin it then

aardvark

The question shouldn't be how, so much, but instead, why?

WillemJM

It depends how old they are, the species used and where from.

Below was done entirely with Railroad ties.

TexasTimbers

Koppers will accept many different hardwoods not just oak. Gums, maples, hickories, locusts and a bunch others. When you buy a heap of RR ties you buying a box of chocolate you never know what you gonna get. Oaks do not necessarily make the best ties.

But I agree that working with creosote is NASTY I have done it. Once. Never again.



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Flame Boxelder

dat

some of the old ones were Bois d'arc, lot's of sweetgum ones now, all of them are heavy.
I'll bet that table doesn't slide very easy

MidGAOutdoor

i like that table or bench or w/e

aardvark

Not me man.
Not me.

Dominick

Lol. You don't like it. It's pretty nice.but it looks like barn wood beams instead of railroad ties.

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When it's rustic......it's rustic

aardvark

Not the appearance I have issues with. It's the chemicals leaching and possible odors.

WillemJM

No chemicals in those, they come from an era where coal was the fuel, steam whistles sounded through the plains and times were good.

Attached Images

 

aardvark

I would think ties of that era are long gone.

WillemJM

You can get deals on railroad ties coming from some of the developed countries in Africa, dating back to the late 1800's. The ones pictured are from South Africa, made from untreated African hard woods.

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Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down by the mind before you reach eighteen. - Einstein