Railroad ties

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Railroad ties are creosote treated for starters. I would be concerned about that first off from a health standpoint, secondly I think that might pose a problem with the finish but only guessing there. They are made of oak so nothing special as far as wood. Now we do also use concrete ties....that would be unique.
 
I have wanted to try that for a while, but never gotten around to it. It sounds interesting, though. The problem is, all of the chunks I get are in pretty bad shape, so I may not be able to get an intact piece large enough to make a pen with. If you try, let us know how it goes!
 
The wood preservatives keep me from experimenting -- RR Ties can be a variety of wood depending on where you are at -- usually were treated at a SuperFund site.

All that wood treatment used on RR stuff is really bad stuff that requires special handling and disclosures.

Plan on it for personal use -- even from a weathered old piece of wood.
 
We put in several million ties a year and with the exception of specific areas where concrete is used every tie we put in is oak. Oak has proven itself to be the most durable through the test of time. That's not to say that short lines don't use something else to save money. Creosote is toxic. Just skin contact can cause severe irritation so I wouldn't want to create dust and not have a respirator to protect my lungs. Seems like a good place for the Trend Air Shield to provide lung and eye protection. Just be careful if you venture down this path.
 
Saw a fella the other day peddling Poison Ivy as safe to turn(can you imagine getting Urushiol dust/wood in your lungs) on FB(in fact, I think he was trying to sell the stuff), so I can only imagine a treated railroad chunk of oak to be easier on a humans lungs.

Seriously though, I'd pass...there are just so many other great timbers in the world.





Scott (don't do it....live healthy, start smoking instead) B
 
My lathe (1220 vs) isn't nearly big enough to turn a railroad tie (in either direction)! That, plus I don't think I could lift one onto the lathe if it did fit.
 
With all the cool wood everywhere...why would you want to endanger you life? Wife...kids? Many hundreds of better choices.
 
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