Tough times call for tough furniture
Even in tough economic times you don't have to compromise on the quality of your furniture. By using discarded railway sleepers you can have high quality furniture made, or make it yourself.
Sleepers are still readily available and were made from the hardest wood available like Rhodesian teak, Lebombo iron wood, massa and panga panga (partridge wood) from Africa, Australia and Malaysia. “Roughly 60 types of hard wood were used for making sleepers.
In the construction industry, solid sleepers are used to support large machinery,” says Jakes Maree, owner of Sleeper Sales in Centurion.
The greatest surprise that hides within the sleepers is the variety of colours which you can only see once the wood is cut. These colours vary in shades of yellows, reds and black.
Sleepers are very popular as focal points in gardens, such as steps, garden paths or water features. When sleepers are cut into planks of any thickness you can make furniture “that will last forever”, says Maree. People use these planks to make garden furniture, bars, beds, tables, chairs, cupboards, doors, stairs, window frames, lintels and much more. For a smoother look, the holes in the planks where the large screws were removed, can be filled.
Another unique feature is that no two sleepers look the same, which means that your furniture will also have unique qualities. Because of the hardness of the wood, special joinery equipment is needed to cut planks. Sleeper Sales can help in this regard at any of their three shops – The sleeper Yard in Fourways (011 467 6593), Sleepers for Africa in Hartebeespoortdam and Sleeper Sales in Centurion.
© Bizwise June 2009
