treated timber

[devonwoody]

My opinion is that it is not a good idea to put treated timber through woodworking machinery (for hobby type machines) because the preservative gets hot and goes sticky etc when passing turning blades.

Any comments?

 

[Daven]

I would agree - used my router on some a couple of years ago, didn't do the bit any good at all - and it made me ill even though I was doing it outside, this happened twice so know it was the wood treatment! :?

Dave

 

[MikeG.]

There are quite a number of different preservatives out there, and not all react the same way to a spinning blade..........

...............but none of them are the sort of thing you want to breathe in when vapourised or turned into dust. So, for the sake of my lungs, rather than my blades, I avoid machining treated timber whenever I can.

Mike

 

[TrimTheKing]

Apparently pressure treated timber contains arsenic (in the preservative) :shock: No way I would be putting it through any kind of spinny bladed device.

It is even suggested that it shouldn't be burned for the same reason, wish I'd have known that when I used a load of offcuts on my open fire....

Cheers

Mark

 

[Karl]

It is even suggested that it shouldn't be burned for the same reason, wish I'd have known that when I used a load of offcuts on my open fire....

Cheers

Mark

D'oh - i've been using decking offcuts on my BBQ for years........

Cheers

Karl

 

[MikeG.]

Apparently pressure treated timber contains arsenic (in the preservative) Mark

Only some does.....there are some much more benign treatments these days.

CCA, incidentally.........the A stands for arsenic.

Mike

 

[bjm]

Arsenic was banned from use (in preservatives) in 2004 by the EU so treated timber no longer contains arsenic.

Brian

 

[TrimTheKing]

Thanks Mike/bjm, that clears that one up then

Cheers

Mark

 

[OPJ]

As already said, you'd only need to worry about arsenic if you were machining old fence posts or decking timber, for example.

You still want to take precautions with the newer ACQ stuff; it isn't pleasant to work with and will have a blunting effect on your edge tools (more so than un-treated softwood).

New (recently) tanalised timber often has a higher moisture content than your average joinery-grade softwood, even before the chemicals have 'been applied'.

 

[brianhabby]

I have been asked to make a gate for a friend and they want it to match their deck - in other words treated timber.

My local yard can get the wood treated after I have cut it all to size and done any machining that needs doing, so that is what I intend to do. This will also mean that any cut edges get treated as well.

The only conditions are that:

a) you have to buy the wood from them.

b) they charge you 20% on top of the normal timber price.

Since I don't have a problem with either then I think we will be doing the job this way.

regards

Brian

 

[MikeG.]

As already said, you'd only need to worry about arsenic if you were machining old fence posts or decking timber, for example

The other standard one, Olly, is the railway sleeper. These are really popular for gardens ATM, and the old black ones are full of all sorts of nasties. Careful what you do with the sawdust!

Mike

 

[joiner_sim]

Where I can I try and machine all the timber and sand it all up and glue together before putting it into the preservative tank at work, then the paint usually gets slapped straight on so no worries.

However, we do order in T&G boarding that has already been vac-vac'ed and I just push that through the drum sander. Now I can't imagine the extraction is that good to stop even the small particles getting out and about, so I might start wearing a mask when pushing that stuff thru.

 

[OPJ]

Whenever you 'work' treated timber you're effectively breaking the seal, as the chemicals only sink about 6mm deep all round and any cut or planed areas will need re-treating. As Brian and Simon have said, it's best to do all the machining first on un-treated softwood and then send it off to the vacuum tank. :wink:

Mike, you're quite right there; creosote was banned in May 2003, if I remember correctly. Most places aren't even allowed to sell the old sleepers, although I believe you can still pick them up from reclamation yards. Even with the "new" sleepers (beech is the main one, although oak and azobe are also used) you've got to take some care as they'll sometimes bang great lumps of metal in to the end-grain to stop the green wood from drying out too fast.