What timber for an outdoor chair?

[Deadeye]

The garden bench has collapsed; rotted through the little tenons.

I've been practising hard and think my skills are up to making a replacement... or at least trying will be instructive.

What timbers survive being out in the garden with little care/attention (annual oiling is out; life is short)? So far I've mostly worked in pine, beech and tulipwood; all easy peasy.
And, while I'm at it, will ordinary PVA do or do I need to switch glue as well?

thanks!

 

[mbartlett99]

Hmm don't know why there's been no reply so I'll be as much help as I can.

Pine - no. Beech - definitely no. Tulipwood - errr no. PVA - no.

Teak - the king of outdoor but the price will scare you
Oak - not a bad choice and its easily available
Western red cedar - available, inexpensive (relatively) easy to work, quite rot proof

Epoxy - solid choice impervious to moisture
Cascamite - easy and reliable

There's a stack of timbers you can use outside and it really comes down to what you want it to look like. I'd suggest the three I've given are a pretty solid choice; personally teak every time but nothings for free ...

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Iroko. At something like £45 per metre for 70mm x 45mm I expect teak's out of the question.

 

[Harbo]

I made this about 12yrs ago from local English oak

Still going strong

Rod

 

[Seb Palmer]

Great to stumble upon this thread, as I have two cast-iron bench ends (salvaged from my local municipal waste facility) - but with no timber slats at all - and I need some wood for replacements. I've been wondering about what wood might be suitable.

One option for bringing cost down is reclaimed material. I'm always collecting free stuff, mostly via Freecycle (and occasionally Gumtree), and sometimes that includes decent hardwoods, or treated outdoor lumber. I have an old gazebo, for example, that I'm planning on recycling as the framework for some climbing plants. So you might be able to find suitable wood that way? Or even at your local dump?

 

[ED65]

And, while I'm at it, will ordinary PVA do or do I need to switch glue as well?

Depends on the exact one you're using, but ordinary probably means no. PVAs cover the spectrum from not waterproof at all, through some that are water-resistant to fully waterproof (although some still prefer not to rely on them if something will be openly exposed to weather, in which case they might use Cascamite or a foaming polyurethane).

Both Cascamite and polyurethane have a useful advantage come assembly time as they don't 'grab' and have a much longer open time than PVAs, so it's much easier to get a larger thing assembled in one go without fear of some joints drying before you're finished clamping up. A slow-setting epoxy will also give you the same, a 1-hour job should give sufficient working time I imagine.

Just to mention, epoxy is fully gap-filling if needed. Cascamite has some gap-filling ability so useful if your joints end up a little loose. Foaming polyurethane glues, like PVA, are not gap-filling at all.

Since you'd like not to do any maintenance, here's a protip: seal the end grain of the feet with epoxy and you'll extend their life significantly. This could easily add a decade to the useful life of outdoor stuff.

As to wood, I was going to suggest oak too. It's great that we have a European species that is resistant to rot so we don't have to rely on something from the tropics all the time. If you're happy to use no finish at all this will weather nicely to a lovely silvery grey in a few seasons.

 

[Deadeye]

What a great set of replies! Thank you all so much.

 

[Rustybin]

One more nomination: Sweet Chestnut, as durable as oak, lighter, easier to work, native, generally cheaper than oak per cube and with less sapwood. A much under rated wood in my humble.

With regard to glues, this seems like a good opportunity to practice some draw-bore joints and forget the glue completely.

Good luck

 

[MikeG.]

One more nomination: Sweet Chestnut, as durable as oak, lighter, easier to work, native, generally cheaper than oak per cube and with less sapwood. A much under rated wood in my humble.

With regard to glues, this seems like a good opportunity to practice some draw-bore joints and forget the glue completely.

Good luck

I couldn't agree more.