Can softwood sleepers be sanded to a decent finish.

[ged47]

Hi can softwood sleepers be sanded to a decent finish?

 

[d c]

i cant see why not as long as they are dry. a few years ago i sanded down some reclaimed hardwood ones which had been used on a railway and treated with creosote and or bitumen. i used an angle grinder with a sanding disc to clean them up for used in the garden i wasnt after a super smooth finish. the dust irritated my skin making me come up in a red itchy rash (just wearing shorts and boots was a big mistake)

 

[Alexam]

dc, it must have been really warm weather wearing only shorts and boots. The mind boggles!. lol



Sorry, couldn't resist!

 

[marcros]

The challenge will be getting them to a low enough moisture content to maintain the surface that you want when used brought inside

 

[wallace]

Some one brought what looked like softwood sleepers. And asked me to if I could cut to size and give them a decent finish. They were tanalised so I planed the top layer off and cut to size. They came up pretty well but there was a lot of checking from drying out. He wanted them rustic and was planning on staining them.

 

[ged47]

Thanks for replies. Ye I'm wanting the rustic look too. So a bit of checking is fine with me. Will let them dry out for a good while before I do anything with them.