Hi, I'm looking for a way to cut sleepers quickly and accurately to size for raised beds, so wondered if there were any recommendations for a saw/saws to do this. Handsaws are just too time consuming and I've found chainsaws don't give quite as neat finish as I'd like. Any suggestions welcome.
I know a sleeper is the ideal item for a bed but i made my raised beds from decking planks, its a lot easier to work with,
Reciprocating saw Might be able to hire a Tandem saw,Alligator saw like the DEWALT DWE396. http://www.jewson.co.uk/tool-hire/power-tools/saws/products/3165/tyrannosaw-single-speed-tandem-saw/
Festool sword saw will do it mate... Its only a grand. That's how you take a sawmill to site. Another option is the rail guided Mafell ZSX Ec 400 which is only £4280 excluding VAT. I think festool have made a mistake with the angle of the blade unless it's adjustable. Some of you carpenters should know why.
Handsaw, you lazy sod , the best most accurate finish, I did all mine this way, a nice new saw, cuts through in no time.
Are these sleepers just cut in half length ways? And the cut edge down? If so then what's wrong with an ordinary chainsaw? Should leave it good enough. If not pleased than finesse it with an adze or a draw knife.
I have cut up dozens of reclaimed railway sleepers into various lengths using nothing more than a 240v reciprocating saw. I have an old 800w Worx one and just bought a new 1100 watt Erbauer this weekend from Screwfix. The Worx is better IMO but it's close.The blades are cheap at about £2 each but barring bending them when they catch occasionally you can get loads of cuts out of a single blade. You'll find that some of the sleepers are harder to cut than others and you'll need to use a seesaw motion to get through and it takes 5-10 mins per cut but it's not that difficult despite the forums of the world saying it's not possible and that you need to use a chainsaw (how can you get an accurate cut to within a couple of mm with a chainsaw?) The attached picture is two planters I cut up and built at the weekend just gone. And I also used sleepers for the gravel boards on the fence.
Chainsaw is the way to go. Watch out with the quality of railway sleepers some of them are treated with stuff that will leach into the soil and affect the plants.
Look at Saxton Blades for Reciprocating blades, Saxton R1021L wood @ £13:99p per pack of 10, very good blades, as are their multi tool blades. http://www.saxtonblades.co.uk/index.php
Yes you have to line the inside of reclaimed sleeper raised beds as they have creosote and all sorts in some or most of them. For about a tenner you can get 3m x 4m of damp proof membrane to keep the soil off of the wood which will also keep the wood drier to slow down any rot. http://www.screwfix.com/p/dmp-damp-proof-membrane-black-1200ga-3-x-4m/73066
This is the other end of my garden that I did with sleepers about 5 years ago. All of these new oak and reclaimed sleepers were cut with my £50 Worx reciprocating saw. I actually bought a chainsaw to do this project back then and it never came out of the box and I gave it away in the end. I am no carpenter or particularly good DIYer but it was not that difficult. It just takes a bit of time. I recommend G cramping on a piece wood on the back edge to keep the blade going in a straight line - I used a small piece of deck board. I wouldn't recommend the lights. They were a pain in the backside and some animal kept chewing through the wire!
Kipperski, I'm about to do some similar cutting for a garden retaining wall. Using 8x4 sleepers as the posts - like Ron's nice work above - but with 8x2s slipped in behind them to retain the actual ground. It was the thought of having to cut lots of 8x4 sleepers that made me decide to increase the number of actual posts (2m sleepers, 750mm into the ground - so no cutting of them) so I could then get away with the thinner boards for the 'wall' part. The 8x2s will be slipped behind the posts and laid edge to edge on top of each other. From the front, they'll look like normal sleepers - 8" high boards - like the posts themselves. So, depending on the heights of your raised beds, there's the option to make most of the sides from 8x2s rather than 8x4s, and then 'top' them with either a full sleeper, or else something like 4x2 to make a 'coping'. Yes, the cut ends will show them as being only 2" thick, but from the fronts they'll look identical to normal sleepers. And there will be more room inside for soil...
If you look through his LH shed window, you'll see a roll of Astraturf kept in there for special occasions.
I built everything out of oak and sleepers so I haven't got to do bloody anything else to it for at least 10 years. Last thing I want is something that needs mowing all the time and then dies every other year. No grass.