# Railroad tie furniture



## 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.


----------



## 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

aardvark said:


> 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)


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


----------



## 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. 
:thumbdown:


.


----------



## 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

aardvark said:


> Not me man.
> Not me.


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


----------



## aardvark

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


----------



## WillemJM

aardvark said:


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


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


----------



## aardvark

I would think ties of that era are long gone.


----------



## WillemJM

aardvark said:


> I would think ties of that era are long gone.


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.


----------



## aardvark

Ok.
So the board foot price has to be very high.
That's a long commute.


----------



## WillemJM

aardvark said:


> Ok.
> So the board foot price has to be very high.
> That's a long commute.


Some make money from that, here is linky from CA.

http://www.africanodyssey.com/index.html

I got a deal once in Oregan, $1.50 a bf, real pretty stuff, most of it was Kiaat, also know as Rodesian Teak.


----------



## aardvark

Got a source for the actual wood?
That appears to be a finished furniture site. Nice stuff if I was interested in buying I suppose, but I'm only after wood.


----------



## WillemJM

aardvark said:


> Got a source for the actual wood?
> That appears to be a finished furniture site. Nice stuff if I was interested in buying I suppose, but I'm only after wood.


Sorry I don't have a source.


----------



## aardvark

Thanks anyways..
Was kinda curious, is all.


----------



## GeorgeC

Dominick said:


> Nope. To much creosote. Not good.


Not only too much creosote, but I have never seen a railroad tie that was not thoroughly split throughout and many rotten areas.

Not anything I would want to use for furniture. They do make good retaining walls.

George


----------



## Dominick

GeorgeC said:


> Not only too much creosote, but I have never seen a railroad tie that was not thoroughly split throughout and many rotten areas.
> 
> Not anything I would want to use for furniture. They do make good retaining walls.
> 
> George


+1. I also agree on the splitting. Other than railroad tie. Yes....retaining walls lol


----------



## tc65

Just a few miles from here is a RR tie plant. I have a nephew in law who works for the RR and has been able to buy cutoffs from the ties to use as firewood (untreated of course). I don't know if they would sell whole untreated ties but if anyone is interested I'll try to find a name and/or contact for the company.


----------



## aardvark

What part of Illinois are you in, and what species of wood are they using.
I'm in N/E Illinois up close to the Wisconsin border... Crystal Lake/McHenry area.


----------



## tc65

It's down here in Galesburg, probably around a 3.5 hour drive for you. My nephew is out on a 3 day RR run so I couldn't get a hold of him, but I seem to recall he said they were oak. Here is a link to the corporate website that lists the local phone number as well as an email for the plant manager. Good luck and let us know what you find out.

http://www.koppers.com/htm/OurCo_Loca_US_Gales.html


----------



## aardvark

Yeah. That's a drive alright.
Thanks, but really not sure I want to go that far.


----------

