timber id- sleepers

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marcros

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I have just cut up some reclaimed sleepers. The dust is a vivid bright reddy orange. Any ideas on the timber?
 
When you say orange then Padauk allways comes to mind but not sure that that was used for Railway sleepers? best quess would be Jarrah more red than orange tho.
(not easy ID'ing wood from the colour of the dust). :?
 
you cant see any grain on the outside, they are pretty filthy. I dont have anything that will get through the rubbish to show it- scrub plane etc. I might try splitting on of the offcut ends, see if that offers any more clues. The cut timber is very orange- next to a terracotta pot it is the same colour. it is also very hard timber.
 
I think Chrispy is on the money - Jarrah is used quite a bit for railway sleepers, and especially for point timbers - the larger cross-section long ones. Jarrah sleepers are f****** heavy.
 
Cheshirechappie":1pikx5ob said:
I think Chrispy is on the money - Jarrah is used quite a bit for railway sleepers, and especially for point timbers - the larger cross-section long ones. Jarrah sleepers are f****** heavy.

Ah, these are "timbers" rather than "sleepers". The bloke told me when he delivered them, but it didn't mean anything much to me. He mentioned it a couple of time, hence it sticking in my mind.

And yes, they are "f****** heavy"! I dont know how old they are, but the timber is sound. If I could process them in some way, it would be a great source of Jarrah at £5 for an 8'6 12xwhatever it is, delivered and offloaded!

I feel closer to Derek Cohen now, working with this Jarrah!
 
It probably is Jarrah...the only other wood that goes bright (and I mean BRIGHT) orange when you cut it up is cocobolo and if it is cocobolo...you ain't just struck a seam you struck the entire gold rush! :mrgreen:

Seriously though...Jarrah was used as ballast on ships from Australia and then railway sleepers in the UK.

If it has not been used...then it is great value...if it has then it is likely to have all sorts of tool-destroying crud on the outside and cheapness suddenly becomes expensive as blades disappear in a cloud of dust and chips! :mrgreen:

Which supplier did you get it from...I might be able to give you more advice if I knew the source...I have some samples here...

This is what a planed sleeper looks like...including shavings!

DSC_0055.JPG


(oh...and the hole where they put the tie bolt!) :mrgreen:

Jim



Jim
 
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