How easy is it to cut railway sleepers with a bow saw. I have a number
I need to cut and I dont want to risk using a chain saw. Would one of
those electric saws (B&D Scorpion) be any good.

Nick

"NWalch" wrote in message
om...
How easy is it to cut railway sleepers with a bow saw. I have a number
I need to cut and I dont want to risk using a chain saw. Would one of
those electric saws (B&D Scorpion) be any good.


I've cut sleepers by hand a number of times using a standard hand rip saw.
Both hardwood and softwood. It is much easier than you might think.

pk

On 17 Mar 2003 14:33:11 -0800, NWalch wrote:

How easy is it to cut railway sleepers with a bow saw.

My, admitedly limited experience, of trying to cut, split or otherwise
reduce in bulk railway sleepers indicates that they are made of the
wood equivalent of concrete. These where real ex-service sleepers mind
not just 7' lengths of 10 x 5 softwood though.

--
Cheers
Dave. Remove "spam" for valid email.

On Mon, 17 Mar 2003 23:46:52 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On 17 Mar 2003 14:33:11 -0800, NWalch wrote:

How easy is it to cut railway sleepers with a bow saw.

My, admitedly limited experience, of trying to cut, split or otherwise
reduce in bulk railway sleepers indicates that they are made of the
wood equivalent of concrete. These where real ex-service sleepers mind
not just 7' lengths of 10 x 5 softwood though.


The sleepers I've come across have been covered in goo and impregnated
with all sorts of icky stuff - and I've found that only a really sharp
bow saw will do the trick, and you have to be careful the cut doesn't
wander.
Even better is a good old-fashioned logging saw ( bit like a rip saw,
only about four feet long ). These things often turn up at the local
tip, and can be had for a couple of quid.

An hour with a file and a stone will put a decent edge on the teeth,
and make it a joy to use.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

On 17 Mar 2003 14:33:11 -0800, NWalch wrote:

How easy is it to cut railway sleepers with a bow saw. I have a number
I need to cut and I dont want to risk using a chain saw. Would one of
those electric saws (B&D Scorpion) be any good.

Nick

We used a £15.99 circular saw bought just for the job from B&Q to follow a
line round the sleeper - dead easy if you have them at waist height...

Which model was it.


Nick

bigjon wrote in message .. .
On 17 Mar 2003 14:33:11 -0800, NWalch wrote:

How easy is it to cut railway sleepers with a bow saw. I have a number
I need to cut and I dont want to risk using a chain saw. Would one of
those electric saws (B&D Scorpion) be any good.

Nick

We used a £15.99 circular saw bought just for the job from B&Q to follow a
line round the sleeper - dead easy if you have them at waist height...

How easy is it to cut railway sleepers with a bow saw. I have a number
I need to cut and I dont want to risk using a chain saw. Would one of
those electric saws (B&D Scorpion) be any good.

Nick

I had one of those B&D Scorpion saws. It was great for cutting 3 x 2 etc, but it
would soon be ruined by cutting sleepers. Not only do the blades get blunt fairly
quickly and need replacing (around £12 each as I remember) but there is a design
problem. The lug that holds the blade assembly is only attached by a couple of
very tiny bolts - these failed on mine about 18 months after purchase - they
really are puny in comparison to the rest of the saw. It was a nice saw while it
lasted. Just a pity it didn't last very long. Unfortunately the bolts look bespoke
and aren't easily replaced anyway short of dismantling the whole saw.
--
Drakanthus.


(Spam filter: Include the word VB anywhere in the subject line or emails
will never reach me.)

On 17 Mar 2003 14:33:11 -0800, (NWalch) wrote:

How easy is it to cut railway sleepers with a bow saw. I have a number
I need to cut and I dont want to risk using a chain saw. Would one of
those electric saws (B&D Scorpion) be any good.

Nick

dont forget some lubricant such as WD40
makes it easy

On 18 Mar 2003 00:45:24 -0800, NWalch wrote:

Which model was it.


Nick

bigjon wrote in message .. .
On 17 Mar 2003 14:33:11 -0800, NWalch wrote:

How easy is it to cut railway sleepers with a bow saw. I have a number
I need to cut and I dont want to risk using a chain saw. Would one of
those electric saws (B&D Scorpion) be any good.

Nick

We used a £15.99 circular saw bought just for the job from B&Q to follow a
line round the sleeper - dead easy if you have them at waist height...

Not a clue - it was a few years back and have since lent it to someone who
conveniently forgot to return it...
--
\\(º`¿´º)//

I've just checked the diameter of the sleepers and its 260mm by 160mm
approx. If the circular saw has a cutting depth of 65mm (which seems
to be the usual max) then would this go through (65mm from each side
would leave 30mm in the middle).


Nick


bigjon wrote in message ...
On 18 Mar 2003 00:45:24 -0800, NWalch wrote:

Which model was it.


Nick

bigjon wrote in message .. .
On 17 Mar 2003 14:33:11 -0800, NWalch wrote:

How easy is it to cut railway sleepers with a bow saw. I have a number
I need to cut and I dont want to risk using a chain saw. Would one of
those electric saws (B&D Scorpion) be any good.

Nick

We used a £15.99 circular saw bought just for the job from B&Q to follow a
line round the sleeper - dead easy if you have them at waist height...

Not a clue - it was a few years back and have since lent it to someone who
conveniently forgot to return it...

"NWalch" wrote in message
m...
I've just checked the diameter of the sleepers and its 260mm by 160mm
approx. If the circular saw has a cutting depth of 65mm (which seems
to be the usual max) then would this go through (65mm from each side
would leave 30mm in the middle).


Nick

You can get circular saws with 3" cutting depth if you shop around - mine from
Wickes is 3". If that's not quite deep enough, you could always use a hand saw to
finish the job off - there wouldn't be much left to cut through.
--
Drakanthus.


(Spam filter: Include the word VB anywhere in the subject line or emails
will never reach me.)

Thank you for all the advise. I have spent the weekend cutting up
numerous sleepers and used a bow saw very successfully. It took around
5 mins per sleeper (with 10 mins rest afterwards)to saw in half. These
are soft wood sleepers so I wound not fancy cutting hard wood ones (or
carrying them ether)

Thanks again.


Nick