I saw a site that a guy from down under made his oun track from stainless steel stock for rails.
I think he used pressure treated lumber for the ties.
Of coarse one could use composit for ties.
If you do a search you might find it if it is still up.
David Kapp said:I've always heard that the cut edge of composite materials - and here I'm assuming that you're speaking of something like Trex or Veranda decking products - absorb water readily and therefore degrade quickly. If you read the spec sheets on their websites you will see that they are not warranted for ground contact applications.
Of coarse one could use composit for ties.
In that light, I’ve often wondered how ties/switches from SwitchMasters hold up. Anybody out there had one of his switches in the ground for several years in a location where it rains frequently and can comment on durability?
Brian
Taxachusetts
Korm-
Sharp inventive idea --it works!
Please help out those, such as myself, as to the curtain rails. I have no memory of ever seeing one. If I ask for them at a yardage store – say one in Calif. called JoAnn’s - is that the term used for what you are using?
Further, the ties and the sand work fine. So the rails are a little wider - fine with me. I think you are are indoors – any problem with use outside that you know about?
Thanks,
Wendell
Brian said:David Kapp said:I've always heard that the cut edge of composite materials - and here I'm assuming that you're speaking of something like Trex or Veranda decking products - absorb water readily and therefore degrade quickly. If you read the spec sheets on their websites you will see that they are not warranted for ground contact applications.
Of coarse one could use composit for ties.In that light, I’ve often wondered how ties/switches from SwitchMasters hold up. Anybody out there had one of his switches in the ground for several years in a location where it rains frequently and can comment on durability?
Brian
Taxachusetts
Brian,
I built one switch using ties from Switchmasters last fall, then left it out over the winter, just to see how it would hold up. It is still together, but it doesn’t look like it will survive, intact, another winter. Winter consisted of the switch being buried under snow and ice for at least 3 months, followed by another month of continual rain.
I’m going to give it a heavy coat of boiled linseed oil before I put it in use next month. I may have to replace the ties with real wood if they begin to crumble.
David Kapp said:I had the link to his site and how he made the rails. I cant find it anymore. ll have to try and find it.
I saw a site that a guy from down under made his oun track from stainless steel stock for rails. I think he used pressure treated lumber for the ties. Of coarse one could use composit for ties. If you do a search you might find it if it is still up.
Larry Staver in Portland OR uses ONLY strip material for his enormous track - in and out. It looks good and seems to be kind to wheels, too. It I was starting over with a LOT of track to put down, that is the way I’d go for sure.
tac, ig & The Freemont Bridge Boys
Wendell Hanks said:
Korm- Sharp inventive idea --it works! Please help out those, such as myself, as to the curtain rails. I have no memory of ever seeing one. If I ask for them at a yardage store -- say one in Calif. called JoAnn's - is that the term used for what you are using?Further, the ties and the sand work fine. So the rails are a little wider - fine with me. I think you are are indoors – any problem with use outside that you know about?
Thanks,
Wendell
i have got no idea, what they might be called in the states. “curtain rail” is, what my german - english translation program came up with.
maybe, you could ask in shops, that sell curtains and ask them, where to buy the rails for the curtains.
down here i find curtainrails from plastic, tinfoil and aluminium.
yes, nowadays i’m indoors. but i used some of those homemade rails as well, when i was still outdoors.
mainproblem is rust/oxidation. (and deforming by stepping on it for plastic)
Those were the days when curtain rail was brass (had little wheel runners either side with a loop to hang the (brass) curtain hook on…) Then they shifted to plastic. There really was something about the “good old days”. No TV…dodgy radios. Ugly cars…Trains for travel…
use a water proofer.
I have made some ties and wood rail sofar so good
Brian said:David Kapp said:I've always heard that the cut edge of composite materials - and here I'm assuming that you're speaking of something like Trex or Veranda decking products - absorb water readily and therefore degrade quickly. If you read the spec sheets on their websites you will see that they are not warranted for ground contact applications.
Of coarse one could use composit for ties.In that light, I’ve often wondered how ties/switches from SwitchMasters hold up. Anybody out there had one of his switches in the ground for several years in a location where it rains frequently and can comment on durability?
Brian
Taxachusetts
David Kapp said:David,
use a water proofer. I have made some ties and wood rail sofar so good
I’m not sure that Trex or Veranda would accept a waterproofing agent - if such a thing actually exists. All of the composites are made of wood fibers (usually some type of cedar) and resins that are proprietary to each manufacturer. When either in contact with the ground, or a cut edge is exposed to moisture, the wood fibers absorb water and swell - this causes the resin to break apart. I would think the manufacturers themselves would have developed some form of sealer for cut edges, but I have yet to find one. Hence, I have forgone the use of composites entirely.
There is a relatively new form of “treated” wood just now coming to market. It is the typical southern yellow pine, but instead of being treated with toxic chemicals (as in pressure treated), it is cooked in kilns with sodium silicate and the result is a composite - the wood fibers are surrounded/encased by glass. The product is denser and stiffer than either raw wood or even PT stuff. It is, however, not warranted for ground contact where a cut edge is involved - uncut edges ARE warranted for ground contact. The company recommends treating cut edges with an epoxy (Anchor Seal is mentioned by name in their installation guidelines) if they are to come in contact with the ground. They also recommend topcoating deck board with a paint or stain to prevent checking due to water adsorption and/or freeze-thaw cycles.
For these reasons, I have also avoided a trial of this stuff as well, though it would probably be no more effort to treat ties made from it than redwood or cedar. Where I thought this stuff might shine would be in building elevated track as it is much stiffer than PT wood of the same dimension and it is warranted not to bow or twist.
BTW, I am not a company rep or anything like that. The product is called Timbersil. It is still rather difficult to find. I meant to tell Bob McCown about is as there is a distributor in his neck of the woods in NE Taxachusetts. Here is their website:
So, Bob, consider yourself informed about it. The distributor in North Billerica is:
Junod, John
Branch Manager
Hood Distribution
600 Iron Hours Park
North Billerica, MA 01862
800-752-0129 (business)
978-667-0934 (business fax)
[email protected]
www.hooddistribution.com
Brian
Brian
try Williams water proof. Most oil based paint are also a water proofer in a sence. latex paints tints donot water proof as the allow moisture to pass
Sorry but sometimes I don’t remember so good but I think the name is Thompsons or something like that.
But to seal your deck or wooden ties and you don’t doint like the old timere and use kerosote.
Akinder sealer group is from soy they claim to be safer http://www.soyclean.biz/
Follow tis link. http://www.ehow.com/how_6585359_easiest-way-waterproof-deck.html
If you need more links I can post moer for you or thy Altavista, dogpile.com or google searck engines and pick your poision.