Please find attached photos of my efforts using railway sleepers with which I found inspiration on your website. I decided I wanted a kingsize bed, the head and foot of the bed were assembled by drilling all the way through and fixed with high tensile threaded bar. The resulting nuts are yet to be covered but I have sourced some satin domed caps to deal with this. The sides of the bed were created by cutting a railway sleeper along it's length which was a job in itself but is achievable; these were then dowelled into the head and foot and then secured using angle iron with coach screws on the internal corners. I made the mattress lats into a simple frame using softwood with a central support. The longest job by far was sanding of all the wood even with a very heavy duty belt sander - that oak is hard! I then had to construct it in the garden then disassemble to get it upstairs to the bedroom. The woodwork is finished with Ronseal diamond hard clear varnish and the grain in the woodwork is magnificent with big knots and shakes on display. With bits left over I decided to make the simple coffee table for the conservatory and finish that with the same varnish but in medium to match the reclaimed parquet flooring. It was then decorated with the seashells by my 6 year old daughter Ronnie. Hope you like the photos and I have some more projects lined up and have a railway sleeper split down its length waiting in the garage, oh dear I think I've got railway sleeper fever!
Brian Levitt
RAILWAY SLEEPERS USED:
New Oak railway sleepers
2.4m x 200mm x 100mm