Using re-claimed timber indoors

[No skills]

I have various bit of reclaimed timber at home that I would like to use for some projects in the coming year. Some of it is treated, or at least I'm 99% sure its treated otherwise the softwood bits just wouldn't of lasted as long as they have in the postion they were in with no obvious protection.

I want to use an oil finish on a couple of the projects, question is will something like Danish oil seal in any nasty chemicals present in the timber? I don't want anybody exposed to whatevers in the timber. If not, other than painting the stuff is there any other finishes that would seal the timber?

Thanks for any help.

 

[carlb40]

It will depend on the project? The treatments don't go that deep into the timbers - even the pressure treated ones. If you cut a section off a pressure treated timber you will see for the most part it only goes in a few mm. So depending on how you cut/plane the timber? You may well get rid of any treatment anyhoo

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Any technical advice will give a worst case scenario. Use your brain - a bit of treated timber is not likely to harm anyone when used as a bookshelf - it may well do if you make chopping boards and babies' rattles out of it.

 

[No skills]

One of them is a blanket box, and thats the one I'm worried about. The main carcass will be the softwood, I was thinking about doing it with a frame and panel design but I havent the resaw capabilities to make the panels so a chunky design is in order thus keeping a lot of the timbers thickness.

 

[No skills]

Any technical advice will give a worst case scenario. Use your brain - a bit of treated timber is not likely to harm anyone when used as a bookshelf - it may well do if you make chopping boards and babies' rattles out of it.

Well yes there is that, whats left of it I just want to reduce any potential problems from touch or even off gassing from freshly machined treated stock. I have had some other treated reclaimed (from another source) that I wont use any more, in its un-molested state it just looks like some laminated timber - during machining and for a long time after (week or more) you can still smell the treatment in the timber.