Subject: Re: wood choices for Adirondack chairs?

From: [email-masked] (Terry Clark)
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 20:19:19 -0600

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked]
wrote:

> I wanted to use teak but chose  western red cedar due to cost.  I used
> both brass screws and waterproof glue and am very pleased with the
> results. Here's are some of the alternatives:
> 
> Teak - $16 bd/ft
> Plantation Teak - $9 
> Mahogony - $4.85
> Iroca - $4.75
> Jatajo $4.25
> Cyprus - $3.60
> Ash - $3.50
> Western Red Cedar - $3.50
> White Oak - $3.40
> Redwood - Not considered. Hard to find good quality
> 
> Iroca and Jatajo look fairly similar to Teak.  I would seriously
> consider them as Teak substitutes for a future product..        
> 
> 
> 
> >I am a novice woodworker and am planning to build Adirondack chairs.  What
> >would be my wood of choice if I do not want to paint the chairs?  And what
> >material should I use if the chairs are painted?

Using the  above list your best deal is white oak. This oak fills the
parenchym tubles with material so water will not penetrate and therefore
white oak is used for outdoors furniture. May not look as good as Teak but
will last a long time and cost a lot less and is usually availble.

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From: [email-masked] (Tom Gauldin)
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 16:38:23 GMT

The version of Jake's Chair that I have on my front porch is made from
Juniper.  It cost $1.60/bf in 4/4, compared at that time to $1.75 for cypress.
Juniper has more knots than Cypress, so there's more waste if you cut around
them.  The benefit is the fun of having a shop smelling like a cedar closet
for the next year or two,  I kept some of the Juniper scraps and run them
throught the planer occasionally to give my whole house a delightful "cedar"
scent.

By the way, Juniper is an oily wood and has good outdoor characteristics.

Tom

>will last a long time and cost a lot less and is usually availble.

Tom Gauldin           Here's to the land of the longleaf pine,
Raleigh NC             The Summerland,where the sun doth shine.
fax 919-676-1404   Where the weak grow strong,and the strong grow great,
                               Here's to Downhome,the Old North State.

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From: [email-masked] (ALMILLIKAN)
Date: 30 Mar 1997 18:15:51 GMT

For painted chairs (and most of the originals were painted, e.g. "Topnotch
green) poplar is good: reasonably stable, takes paint well and modest in
price. Al Millikan

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From: [email-masked] (Tom Gauldin)
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 19:30:03 GMT

Al- I've also had folks report that they've built the Jake's Chair out of
YELLOW PINE (for painting) and that it works very well.  Yellow Pine is one of
the hardest pines and seems to hold up well to weathering, although I'd
personally go with Juniper, Cypress or Redwood for an unfinished outdoor
incarnation of the chair.  Another decent wood is fir, since it can be found
without knots in most lumber yards.

Tom

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From: "Chris Jones" <[email-masked]>
Date: 31 Mar 1997 22:14:37 GMT

I built several adirondack chairs for the patio and yard last summer and
used pressure treated wood. I used 1x material and it has worked well. I
used a seasoning for the wood as rec. by the lumber company. They have made
it through the summer, fall and winter and look good. The green color of
the wood quickly changed to a weathered grey after I applied the seasoning.

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From: Chris Schwarz <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 02 Apr 1997 08:29:38 +0000

Pine and fir are fine if you are going to paint the chairs every few years. If 
you want a more natural look, I'd suggest using white oak. Red oak has an 
open cellular structure and will suck water like a straw. 

Your other options are more expensive. Teak and mahogany are both 
excellent outdoor woods. But open the checkbook wide.

Chris Schwarz
Popular Woodworking