hi all
i'm just trying to get into woodworking, so i'm a little green. i'm on a budget and want to make some patio furniture which i hope to get 5-10 yrs use out of. what's the cheapest wood i could use for this?
tks
Pressure treated 2X4's and Fence Boards. Or, Non Pressure Treated and Paint it every year. Or were you looking for something more attractive?
I'd try douglas fir or cedar. They will both weather well outside if treated with BLO & water seal and are nice and cheap. You can even go to your local BORG and pick out 'premium' grade studs (2x4, 2x6, etc). They will typically be douglas fir and can actually look quite nice after they have been crafted and finished if you pick pieces with nice grain.
Fir studs? Lucky you live whereever you do, all I've seen for years is "white wood" :(
-- dadiOH ____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at
attractive?
I agree completely. I've used pressure treated wood for all kinds of outdoor projects. Adirondack chairs, benches, tables and planters. Prssure treated dogeared fencing is very cheap and works well if you don't mind a rough surface or sanding a lot. You can also whitewash pressure treated wood or apply an outdoor stain to improve apprearance. Good luck to you,
Regards, Bobby
IMO Pressure treated wood for furniture is probably not a great idea -- unless it is finished in a way to prevent bleed-out of the chemicals (assuming that is possible). See the google search. If you still feel comfortable with PT wood after a bit of research then be my guest. If you have guests, some may feel uncomfortable on PT wood furniture.
IMO Stick to wood which doesn't need treatment - then you can sit on it more often instead of painting or finishing it.
People have already suggested good woods - cedar, cypress, white oak, Ipe etc.
Resinous softwoods like larch. The "red deal" softwoods will work too; eastern red cedar, some grades of douglas fir.
If it's local, sweet chestnut is a good outdoor timber too. White oak will work and can be affordable if you find the right sources (you're not looking for furniture-grade). There are a few other US hardwoods that are usable.
the basic rule for buying timber is that good wood from a cheap supplier is still cheaper than rubbish from the expensive retail shop. Find the right source to use !
It's a lot cheaper if you buy it sawn, not planed. If you can scrounge access to a thickness planer, this can save you a lot of money.
I wouldn't use anything pressure-treated for furniture.
I agree with not using PT wood - although I used to. CCA treated was fine, IMO, for outdoor furniture. It wasn't nearly as bad as the stuff they now sell in my area. When a treated board will eat a galvanized fastners, it's full of some pretty nasty stuff. I have my doubts about how well it will hold up too.
Last stuff like that I recall was fire retardant wood. The treatment was so nasty that a splinter in your hand was a disaster. I didn't like it, couldn't believe it when they put it in as code for townhomes around here. I was not surprised to find that it rotted out in under
10 years. I wouldn't be surprised to find the new, 'environmentally friendly' treatments have similar issues. If it eats up metal, I just don't see how the wood will last with it. Hope I'm wrong or there will be a lot of very upset people in a few years.Jim
On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 22:48:25 GMT, Icepick wrote something ......and in reply I say!:
But be very wary that it's not treated wood. I have som palletsa that are going to stay as pallets. They have a smell that si chemical.
****************************************************************************************** WHY _ARE_ WE HERE?Nick White --- HEAD:Hertz Music
remove ns from my header address to reply via email
!!
RE: Subject
Think you are attacking the wrong cost center.
The material of a project is hardly ever more than 30% of the total project.
Use the cheapest garbage material you can find that maybe costs 50% of quality material and you save 15% of the project cost.
I can't get excited about 15% on a project that may represent me for many years.
IMHO, my time deserves the best material.
You only go around once, but if you do it right, once is enough.
Lew
For outdoor furniture ?
If we discount labour, capital costs and tool wear, I'd expect around
75% to be on timber for making something like an Adirondack.For some stuff it would be 100%, except that a lot of my timber is free anyway. I make green-wood outdoor furniture that simply doesn't have _any_ direct costs on it - it's just me, a toolbag and a coppice.
Yes.
IMHO, you can't discount any of the above. Tools wear out, depreciation applies, etc, etc.
There is no such thing as free. Everything has a cost.
IMHO, you have a cost.
Lew
Hm. I've become quite the dumpster diver of late, frequenting new construction sites. I tend to hit them when they're putting up decks, and acquire quite a lot of cedar that way. I've got quite a few 2x2 spindles ranging anywhere from 2-8 feet in length, a goodly amount of 2x lumber (mostly 2x6 or 2x8) in widths up to 12", and post cut-offs in 4x4, 4x6 and
6x6 sizes (good for trestle or pedestal tables). Cost? A bit of your time, effort and willingness to get dirty, but monetarily, $0.00.No one really seems to care if you take the stuff - just make sure not to do it late at night, or you'll attract attention from the local constabulary on the lookout for construction-site thieves (DAMHIKT).
All told, I've probably got about 300 board feet of cedar stacked to and fro that I've accumulated in just the past couple months, and construction season is just getting into full swing around here. I've started building in earnest - this week's project was a kids' table for outdoors. Next week it'll be four chairs for the table, and my kids will have a patio set of their own. After that, I'm thinking of some planters for Mother's Day.
Jason
You're making some assumptions about purpose here. Some people make furniture for fun and do other things to make money. Sometimes they make furniture to keep what they do to make money from driving them insane.
If you're in the shop for fun and the finished product is just an excuse to be in the shop then free lumber or free anything else is goodness.
I might, but it sounds like the OP is doing this as a hobby. They have time to spare, but not cash. Now in that situation the finishes, adhesives and consumables are a cost, but not the time.
Cheapest to buy is the "seconds bin" at Home Depot. Cheapest to use is free wood from dunnage, pallets, crates, etc. Right now I have a lot of 3 x 3 x
7' wood that came from shipment from Korea. You may need a planer to make it usable though. You can get rough cut pine from saw mill rather cheap, especially the lower grades.I use cheap and low cost wood where I can, but I don't compromise quality. My time and effort is the same with crap wood as it is with good wood.
Where do you live? Maybe someone can give you a tip to a local source.
Don't know where your at but cypress is a good outdoor wood. If your just getting into woodworking, ask around for places to get lumber, and not at the borg or lowes. I have a supplier in my area that has cypress shorts for as low as $0.40 lf. Most is surfaced 13/16" 2" to 6" wide by
3 to 4 foot long. I did several chairs built all out of shorts. I think the longer stuff runs less than $1.00 bdft.
thanks for all the replies, guys. looks like the woodworking community is strong and eager to help out the newbies.
because i've got so many projects planned for the summer, and such a limited budget, I think i'll pursue some of this pallet and dumpster wood some of you mentioned. what's the deal with this pallet wood - is it strong enough to make a patio chair from? What about a treehouse? if i give it a coat of an oil based paint, can i expect it to last a few years? i found a place just down the road from my house that had a 'free firewood' sign out front, so i grabbed a few pallets on the way home from work. the boards are a little skinny for the adirondack chairs i was planning on building. can i glue them with regular carpenter's glue to create some of the larger pieces i'll need for the project and expect it to hold up?
tks again to everyone.
Make sure to sand or plane the boards before glue-up, and use a waterproof glue like Titebond II or III or a polyurethane. But otherwise, why not?
Be aware that pallet wood can be treated with chemicals as well, so some sort of mask is in order when working the stuff.
Jason
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.