I'm planning on building a few adirondack chairs and assorted other outdoor stuff. Have yet to work with either cedar or ipae. The cedar is 7/8 S2S and the rough side is pretty rough. I don't have a planer. The ipae is S4S at nominal 1 inch. Any thoughts about which to choose?
TIA
Cap'n 321
It's correct name is Ipe and it VERY hard and rough on all cutting edges.
It would outlast cedar by many years.
Cap'n 321 wrote:
I bought Ipe recently for the same purpose then I realized they were going to be heavy monsters to move around. The chairs I have built from SG douglas fir weigh around 25-30lbs I think figured the IPE would be atleast twice. I will use the IPE for outdoor chaise loungers that will have wheels on one end
This may not be a consideration in your case
The rough saw will be a PITA after while. Ipe will be very heavy. Consider some other material such as cypress or Spanish cedar. Or, better yet, buy that planer !
Don't know what the cedar's like around your place, but around here, some of it's dripping wet (literally). So leaving it sit out in a dry area for a while is necessary, but it dries fast. It also planes very easily with hand planes, and smells nice doing it. :) So the rough side shouldn't be too much of a problem.
I built my Adirondack chairs from a Wood Magazine plan (the one with the ever-green cutout between the middle two back supports). It turned out pretty good; good enough that my wife brought it inside when we needed some more chairs this winter, and it hasn't gone back out yet. :) It was built entirely from 2x6 and 1x6 (or 5?) boards. Standard issue borg stock, which was nice. It's also nice because it's light, but the cedar dents and scratches easily. Especially around a 5 year old boy who's bored and has something metal in his hands. DAMHIKT. Of course, he got a dresser my dad built for me many years ago that has my name and other catchy phrases carved in it, so I can't complain too much. :)
Clint
I've just bought the Delta hybrid TS and a new bandsaw. SWMBO wants to see some action before I can sneak another tool into the house.
I give my wife enough action that she is happy to see me go to the shop.
Oh, you meant to make something. Buy some 6" pine boards at the local lumber yard. No planing, easy to finish, cheap to practice on. Once she sees what you can do, she will beg you to buy the planer for the cedar version.
I got a bunch of 2x12 rough WR cedar for free and I don't have a planer. I did a passible job with my belt sander. Start with 80 and work it down to the finer grits. They finish up very pretty with a top coat
I've made four Jake chairs out of the type of cedar you described. I don't have a planer either. I use a belt sander and it does an adequate job for me. I try to keep the sanded rough sides where they aren't seen. By the way, check Jake chairs on the web. Some may not agree but I find them easy to build and very comfortable. I made one out of pine first to see if I liked them, took it apart, traced the curved parts on particle board so I'd have templates and then rebuilt the chair. It sure makes successive builds alot easier.
Whew, where abouts in the world you hail from?
That's not bad at all for the chair and footstool with both sides surfaced. I'm starting another Jake's chair tonight and have maybe five more after it. Enjoy the work.
About 15 or 16 years ago my dad built some adirondacks out of white oak. Last year I refinished them for the second time since they were built. A little washing, some scuff sanding and a couple of coats of spar urathane. These have been outside their entire lives, but they sit under a deck and are a little sheilded from the snows. They do get wet whenever it rains. They look so much better than most such chairs I see, but are heavier than the PT chairs my BIL built at the same time.
Dave Hall
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