"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
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.

Nope, I've gotta have a finish on it now. If I want to see hillbilly
stuff, I'll go visit my parents! That, and I want to keep the color.
Thanks to you folks that responded- I'm going to make sure to look
into that arm-r-seal stuff, and see how it goes.

I hate the "lovely silvery gray look", too. (If I wanted an old barn,
I'da built one.)

Instead, I'd opt for the Sikkens Cetol finish for my outside bench to
keep the color...if I could get both pry bars out at the same time.
'Taint cheap, and though I haven't tried it, I keep hearing that it's
the very best. Best adhesion, most UV protection, longest lasting,
etc.


http://www.nam.sikkens.com/product.c...egory=exterior

You run into a problem, of course, with the oils and resins weeping through.
If it is kiln-dried and resin set "cedar", a bit less.

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...ily_woods.html