Mounting a railway sleeper as a shelf - suggestions?

DanteMancino

Hi folks,
I'm trying to think of ways to mount a railway sleeper to the kitchen wall so that I can use it as a shelf and hang pots from hooks underneath.
I had a joiner who said he could do this but later disappeared without telling me how or finishing his work.:mad:

The sleepers are heavy and brackets strong enough would be unsightly.

It's an exterior wall. I had been considering using very long, heavy bolts through the sleeper and right through the wall and then fixing it with a nut tightened to a face plate outside. Unfortunately I can't seem to find any bolts like this.

Does anyone know any other way I could do this or possibly even where I could get bolts like that? I don't mind if they have to be custom machined if you know anyone who would make them.

Thanks in advance for your help.

antoinolachtnai

Warning: quite apart from the structural/weight issues, if this is a real railway sleeper, forget about this. Railway sleepers should not be used indoors, and definitely not anywhere near food or eating areas. There is creosote in the wood.

Really, railway sleepers should not be used anywhere, indoor or out, where people might come into contact with them.

Even a 'decorative' sleeper is going to have some sort of preservative in it. It might be suitable for indoor use, or it might not.

If I were you, I would get a shelf made.

You can certainly get long, threaded pieces of steel which you could use to do this. I have seen these lengths for sale in woodies. I wouldn't fancy this approach to hanging something as heavy as a railway sleeper though.

You might be better to hang it off the wall. It might be solid enough to hold it. It really depends on what sort of wall it is and what's above it.

All in all, I think it sounds like a lot of trouble.

CJhaughey

DanteMancino wrote: »

The sleepers are heavy and brackets strong enough would be unsightly.

Are you talking about a real oak railway sleeper? or a pine version?
The oak sleepers weigh in the region of 100kgs and sometimes a lot more, I doubt you will be able to just fix that to any kind of a wall be it block or otherwise without having some kind of cantilever to take part of the load.
Bear in mind that the real sleepers are not the most hygenic of things to be installed in a kitchen, years of being soaked in sewage after being creasote treated would be a little offputting to say the least no matter how rustic a look you are aiming for.

Joey the lips

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

Warning: quite apart from the structural/weight issues, if this is a real railway sleeper, forget about this. Railway sleepers should not be used indoors, and definitely not anywhere near food or eating areas. There is creosote in the wood.

Really, railway sleepers should not be used anywhere, indoor or out, where people might come into contact with them.

Even a 'decorative' sleeper is going to have some sort of preservative in it. It might be suitable for indoor use, or it might not.

If I were you, I would get a shelf made.

You can certainly get long, threaded pieces of steel which you could use to do this. I have seen these lengths for sale in woodies. I wouldn't fancy this approach to hanging something as heavy as a railway sleeper though.

You might be better to hang it off the wall. It might be solid enough to hold it. It really depends on what sort of wall it is and what's above it.

All in all, I think it sounds like a lot of trouble.

I was going to say the same about the preservative

Can you not get a block of soft wood and use dark would stain and crease the wood to make it look like vains. If this makes sense!

DanteMancino

Joey the lips wrote: »

I was going to say the same about the preservative

Can you not get a block of soft wood and use dark would stain and crease the wood to make it look like vains. If this makes sense!

Should have been clearer on that. No it won't be a real railway sleeper. It'll be a block of rough pine about the same size as a railway sleeper and stained.

mp22

use angle iron as big as you can get and rebate the pine to conseal the brakets (100mmx150mm angle)