Thoughts re unfinished cedar for an outdoor chair

Re: Thoughts re unfinished cedar for an outdoor ch

JL

Australian Timber Oil from Cabot.

A friend used it on a picnic table a couple years ago. Still looks reasonable today.

Re: Thoughts re unfinished cedar for an outdoor ch

Howard in Toronto

Thanks JL

I just checked it out - do you have any idea re it letting cedar retain its anti-rot characteristics?

Re: Thoughts re unfinished cedar for an outdoor ch

JL

No. It was used on redwood. So I haven’t any data.

Re: Thoughts re unfinished cedar for an outdoor ch

Howard in Toronto

gotcha

thanks

Re: Thoughts re unfinished cedar for an outdoor ch

Ellis Walentine

We used to make big driveway gates back in the day, usually of mahogany or teak. I ran several extended experiments with clear finishes and never found a single one that held up more than a year or two without recoating. So, unless you are prepared to replenish the finish annually, I'd suggest some kind of stain or preservative product that stays pretty much in the wood or whose failure mode is chalking rather than flaking. You definitely don't want to have to strip/sand/refinish a varnished chair.

As for those little tongues you mentioned, I found that to be a problem with flat sawn cypress, and the only workaround is to use quartered lumber, at least for those parts that could hurt somebody.

Ellis

Re: Thoughts re unfinished cedar for an outdoor ch

Howard in Toronto

Thanks for this Ellis

Re: Thoughts re unfinished cedar for an outdoor ch

AZ in Colorado Springs

Those bits are the ends of grain layers "delaminating from it's neighbor, and warping/curving away into free space, correct?