Furniture from railway sleepers

[Tommcdonald81]

Hi, I'm a budding furniture maker and have been asked to make a vanity unit from 'Railway sleepers'. I've done a bit of research and understand the old used sleepers have been treated with fairly toxic stuff so should not be used. General consensus I have read is that it should be new Oak untreated sleepers that are used for indoor furniture?

I've got someone who can supply me with softwood (larch or Douglas for he says) in similar dimensions. Does anyone know if this would be suitable for indoor furniture?

The unit in question is to be a 'vanity unit' and will have a sink sitting on top of it. How should i treat the wood to ensure it doesn't rot when in contact with small but regular amounts of water?

Only just registered and first time post, your help and advice is very much appreciated

Thanks

 

[marcros]

it would be interesting to see the design you have in mind. kiln dried stock may be a better bet and then distress it. The customer may not know the difference!

I made a simple side table and a tv stand from new oak sleepers a couple of years ago. (We hadn't decided quite what to do with the room, and so I didn't want to spend much as a temporary measure). They were a stack of components, located by large dowels in case they got knocked etc. I knew that they would split and crack, which they did. I also had to distress them and knock the edges off to look like they were old beams. If I had re-flattened after 12 months, they would probably not have moved much more. For a vanity unit, you may not be able to reflatten. They were very green on the inside, certainly not even half seasoned.

 

[Tommcdonald81]

Kiln dried oak beams you mean? Or would the kiln dried wood of those mentioned be ok? Forgive my ignorance!

Planning on distressing it as wel.

If I could figure out how to attach a picture I'd upload it. Am I able to message you it?

 

[marcros]

I just meant kiln dried oak boards. particularly if you were planning to cut the sleepers into boards.

I will pm you an email address, and then I can pop you the pics on the thread.

 

[dynax]

oak sleepers will be too green for furniture, you would need to resaw into boards and then season them for a year or 2,

 

[Alexfn]

not all old sleepers have been treated you will get the likes of jarrah and azobe that havent had any treatment at all although you might have difficulty in working them, blades will dull at the sight of them and you will need help to lift them,

larch could be a good option, but like marcros said, what you are going to have to consider here is with such a substantial piece of timber there could be significant movement, will there be a shower in this room for example? its important to get the right timber for the job and seal it well. also to manage the customers expectations

id try to get something well seasoned and get it really well sealed

 

[RobinBHM]

I think oak for a vanity unit is not ideal -oak will stain black if it gets wet.

I know kitchen worktops in oak are ok with danish oil, bu they are smooth with no risk of splitting.

Any large section oak can be assumed to be wet on the inside even if it is sold as air dried.

 

[marcros]

the OP's design...

 

[Nelsun]

I made us an Oak and slate coffee table (it's buried somewhere in the post a photo thread) over a year ago from 8x4 Oak sleepers. They were ripped in half and sectioned to about 95mm square. I was horribly patient and waited an eternity (a number of weeks) before taking them to final dimension. The finished article had flush joints which, one year on, are still surprisingly mostly flush. Some movement has occured in a few places but I'm talking 1mm and for the design of the table it's OK.

Looking at the design image above I reckon you could get away with it on the thicker sections but the slats I'd splash out on seasoned / dried Oak.

You'll have splits to deal with in sleepers but butterfly splines should see you right on visible bits and screw (and plug) the rest

As others have said, Oak and water are not a good combo so I'd explain this to expectant owner before anything else.

For a finish, Osmo do the infamous PolyX oil which is great and they also do a specific product to be applied first before PolyX for wood likely to encounter more water than it'd like. I've used it on our sink worktop and it's still tip top after 2 years... but I wipe up any water religiously and it's only been 2 years so YMMV.

 

[Droogs]

I've made a few kilt stools for people out of old sleepers/harbour piles. to be on the safe side I always take 3/8ths off all round to get rid of any toxic carp and it helps release the amazing smells you get from the old wood. not had any fail or warp in the 10 years since i did the first one. do just use BLO as a finish though
hth

edit typo

 

[Tommcdonald81]

Really appreciate all the advice folks. General consensus is to use dried out oak (I think!) trying to source this at the moment and it's proving difficult!

So the BLO is the best finish to use?

 

[Tommcdonald81]

Sorry for stretching this post out but hard wax oil has been recommended as a finish to the unit? Would this be suitable in Your opinions?

Thanks again

 

[MickCheese]

A friend of mine bought an oak sleeper kitchen table from a company on the net that has now gone out of business.

After a year of sitting in his kitchen it twisted so badly that you couldn't even put a cup of coffee on the top.

I suspect the firm knew it was failing and just trying to use up its wood.

So

Be careful, you wont get repeat business if that happens.

Mick

 

[Nelsun]

Osmo "PolyX" is great (2 *thin* coats) and works great on Oak. For wood that's anywhere near moisture they do a wood protector you put a single coat on first which I'd go with in this case - especially where the bottom of the sink meets wood as water will end up there for sure. No finish is bombproof mind you, but Osmo goes a long way and is easy to touch up. Fnar

As Mick says sleepers can move about. I'd let the sleeper sit for a good while (weeks / months) in a homely environment, take it to near final dimension (taking off all sides if possible) and leave it to sit again before taking it to final dimensions. Then fix it together with the strongest means available to you. It's a perfect excuse to justify buying a Domino XL!

 

[Tommcdonald81]

Thank you. I'll go with the osmo stuff.

Tell me there is a cheaper method of joining these things than the domino xl?? Don't get me wrong, I'd love one! but it's outwith my price range at the minute.

I'll only have time to let sit for around 2-3 weeks.

 

[Nelsun]

You'll get a super strong glue joint on long grain to long grain, pocket holes on hidden bits and screws and plugs on any visible areas should see you right. If you want to go the fancy pants route, butterfly splines will add to it no end too (and would be recommended IMHO on larger splits).

 

[AJB Temple]

If you are using genuine old sleepers, they will not move a great deal. Tar will have penetrated quite deeply and you may well find hidden spring fittings. Most oak sold as sleepers is recently felled green oak and it will move and split quite a bit until it has dried. You need to accept that it will have an exceedingly rustic look if it is used for indoor furniture. I have lots of green oak offcuts from my timber framing activities, and I have tried making things like a TV stand out of it.

You do not need a domino. You just need to learn to cut mortice and tenon joints and you have almost no tool outlay for that. If I was in commercial production I would get a festool, but as I am just making cabinets and so on for myself I find M&T joints, dovetails and some dowelled fixings work fine still! In any case, you can forget making nice neat joints in green oak: the stuff will have moved between cutting and assembly!

 

[YorkshireMartin]

Personally, before I embarked on this project with this material, my first task would be to check the moisture content of the timber I was looking at buying. If it's truly green oak, then you're truly opening a can of worms if you can only let it dry for 2 to 3 weeks.

Jointing is a secondary consideration. The first thing is finding out how stable the material itself is. Without knowing or being able to make an educated guess, the other tasks in the build are moot.

You can plan around almost anything, but you can't go in blind.

Just my 2p.