"Prometheus" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:21:16 -0500, Patriarch
wrote:

'Cedar' covers a multitude of vaguely related woods. You should check
with
your local suppliers, and see what the deck and fence folks are using for
their higher end work, and look at the economics of that.

The only stuff I'm interested in working is what they carry at the
local hardwood supplier- it is a very deep red/purple with strips of
white and black in it. There's a link a picture of the specific
species I have access to right he

http://www.harmonycedar.com/images/c...-grain-500.jpg

It comes in 4/4 stock, and is kiln dried- so there should be no
problems with waiting for it to dry out. While I can't say that money
is no object, I'm not terribly concerned about the price of a set of
deck chairs and a little table. I think this stuff is about $2-3/bf.
I can't afford to hunt down Teak or Honduran mahogany or anything like
that, but cedar should be appropriate to the application in any case.
My second choice is Redwood from the lumberyard a little ways down the
road. Also not a bank-breaker, but it doesn't have as much character
as the cedar.

Aromatic or eastern red. One of the driest in the log of domestic woods,
with the heartwood barely above the fiber saturation point. Also one of the
toughest to get a finish to stick to. Shellac is what I've had luck with.
Lot of oil and resin in the stuff.

For outside, let 'er go naked. Lots of hillbillies did.