Using sleepers to form fanned path

[larkim]

SWMBO was discussing how to create a path curving in an arc from the house = to the door of the shed, essentially going through a 90deg curve over about= a 3m trajectory.

I quite like the idea of sinking some pieces of sleeper into the ground, an= d gradually creating an angle to get around to the door, sort of in the sam= e way that arches were created by the romans (that's the best image which s= prings to mind!).

Possible width would be about 34 inch wide (assuming cutting a fairly stand= ard new sleeper into 3rds).

I'm guessing that cutting sleepers with a handsaw is going to be too timeco= nsuming (!), and I don't have the kit to do it myself with anything more su= bstantial, so I'd be approaching the local timber merchant (who sell sleepe= rs) to do it for me. Obviously I'd need to plan each piece out quite caref= ully.

Does this sound like a feasible project? SWMBO doesn't want gaps between t= he sleepers (otherwise I would have just got about 4 sleepers cut into 3 ev= en pieces each), so some will have to be cut with diagonals.

Any thoughts?

Matt

[GB]

I thought that sleepers are extremely hard to cut. Is your local timber merchant really going to be prepared to do this for you? Do a rough sketch and ask him what it will cost. He may well factor in a new saw blade into the calculation.

Do sleepers make a good path? Or are they rather slippery when wet?

Finally, you don't need full height railway sleepers for this, so buy one and get it slit lengthwise into one-inch deep strips? Then distress them a bit and add preservative. :)

[Huge]

I chainsawed a number in half for a raised flower bed without any issues.

[GB]

Guess that would work, but is that standard timber merchant's kit? I've never used one - how accurate can you be with diagonal cuts etc?

[Martin Brown]

I think they would be slippery when wet. Even rough stone can be if you have the wrong conditions and green algae, mosses or liverwort grow.

At least 2 or 3" thick if you want them to survive being walked on.

[Huge]

Good enough for agricultural work ...

[Owain]

ITYM "rustic"

SWMBOs don't usually approve of "agricultural"

Owain

[Broadback]

Sleepers vary a lot. I have ones made from hardwood, they are like iron to cut, or drill.

[harry]

e to the door of the shed, essentially going through a 90deg curve over abo= ut a 3m trajectory.

and gradually creating an angle to get around to the door, sort of in the s= ame way that arches were created by the romans (that's the best image which= springs to mind!).

ndard new sleeper into 3rds).

consuming (!), and I don't have the kit to do it myself with anything more = substantial, so I'd be approaching the local timber merchant (who sell slee= pers) to do it for me. =A0Obviously I'd need to plan each piece out quite c= arefully.

en the sleepers (otherwise I would have just got about 4 sleepers cut into =

3 even pieces each), so some will have to be cut with diagonals.

Get some decking planks. Much easier to deal with. I have decking and yes it gets very slippery so I expect sleepers would as well unless you nail/staple chicken wire over it.

[harry]

True. They are not actually sleepers at all any more, just lumps of wood.

[GB]

Maybe the chicken wire look should be run past swmbo? :)

[Roger Mills]

the door of the shed, essentially going through a 90deg curve over about a 3m trajectory.

gradually creating an angle to get around to the door, sort of in the same way that arches were created by the romans (that's the best image which springs to mind!).

new sleeper into 3rds).

timeconsuming (!), and I don't have the kit to do it myself with anything more substantial, so I'd be approaching the local timber merchant (who sell sleepers) to do it for me. Obviously I'd need to plan each piece out quite carefully.

sleepers (otherwise I would have just got about 4 sleepers cut into 3 even pieces each), so some will have to be cut with diagonals.

I'm not sure what a 'new' sleeper is. A proper sleeper will have done a few years under a railway line, and will have the marks - and the creosote or tar - to prove it. Anything else is just a lump of wood.

Either way, you're on a hiding to nothing trying to cut them longitudinally so as to be wider one end than the other. Far better to make the path out of several sleepers side by side running up and down the path rather than across it, and cutting them off at an appropriate angle at the ends so as to make your curve out of a number of straight segments.

A chain saw would be my tool of choice. With a bit of practice you can learn to make sufficiently accurate cuts. Be aware, though, that if they

*are* real railway sleepers, the creosote or tar will soon clog the blade. If they're *not* real sleepers, they won't last long in contact with the soil unless they're well soaked in preservative.

[Andy Champ]

Then you'll know how far in the preservative goes...

Andy

[polygonum]

If they are realrailway sleepers and date from, say, the 1970s, they could be Jarrah. The cutting and handling of which is not easy...

"Jarrah flowers are used to make honey, but its wood is its main use. It is a heavy timber, with a specific gravity of 1.1 when green. Its long, straight trunks of richly coloured and beautifully grained termite-resistant timber make it valuable for cabinet making, flooring, panelling and outdoor furniture. The finished timber has a deep rich reddish-brown colour and an attractive grain. When fresh, jarrah is quite workable but when seasoned it becomes so hard that conventional wood-working tools are useless. It is very durable, even in wet and weathered situations, making it a choice structural material for bridges, wharves, railway sleepers, ship building and telegraph poles.!

real sleepers can have stones embedded and metal bits anywhere.

[Huge]

More or less all the way.

[Adam Funk]

We got two sleepers to use in the garden some years ago. A relative advised me to pay extra for having them cut, as it would be nearly impossible to do it myself (& something to the effect of not borrowing his power tools for the purpose either, IIRC). So I measured where I wanted to put them several times before ordering.

I recall from looking at the cut ends that they looked preserved and were very hard all the way through.

[Phil L]

Yes.

1) there's a reason why people don't have paths made out of wood, see if you can guess what it is.

2) decking board is made with 'grips' but even that gets slimy and green

3) if you did attempt this, and I strongly advise you not to, you couldn't lay them without gaps

4) railway sleepers are laid on (raised) stone chippings for drainage, very rarely are they in contact with soil

in summary, this project isn't feasible because it will be very expensive, look hideous, be unsafe and won't last, other than that it's a sound plan.