oak heartwood/sapwood for outdoor furniture

[Woodmonkey]

I have some waney edge oak boards I would like to use for some garden furniture. What I would like to know is, is the sapwood as durable as the heart wood or should I try to only use heart wood (this will lead to a lot of wastage) …
Thanks.

 

[acewoodturner]

The sapwood doesn't last very long outside so its best not used.

 

[tomouse]

As above, sapwood should not really be used at all, especially for exterior work. It is much softer than the heartwood and prone to decay and insect attack.

Sapwood in Oak is not usually a very large percentage of the usable timber compared to the heartwood..... unless you got some of the edge of log boards.

 

[Woodmonkey]

Thanks guys, bummer, I would say the slabs i have are probably 50/50 sapwood/heartwood so will probably need to find some more from somewhere.