I just made some Adirondack chairs from the scraps
of a refurbished cedar deck. The wood looks great
after I ran it across the jointer. My question: should
I let it go gray again with the weather, or should I
put something on it (and if so, what?) to keep the
reddish color?

Thanks,

S.

"samson" wrote in message
...
I just made some Adirondack chairs from the scraps
of a refurbished cedar deck. The wood looks great
after I ran it across the jointer. My question: should
I let it go gray again with the weather, or should I
put something on it (and if so, what?) to keep the
reddish color?

Thanks,

S.

The weather is not really what is fading the wood to gray unless you
consider sun light as being part of the weather.

You need UV protection to keep the color. Most outdoor varnishes will last
2 to 3 years maximum so it will be an ongoing process.

On Aug 1, 9:25 am, samson wrote:
I just made some Adirondack chairs from the scraps
of a refurbished cedar deck. The wood looks great
after I ran it across the jointer. My question: should
I let it go gray again with the weather, or should I
put something on it (and if so, what?) to keep the
reddish color?

Thanks,

S.

We've got a two-seater curbside grab that got tossed when one side
came away from the main chair. Looks like standard cedar, hand built.
Took me a couple hours and one piece of 2x10 to fix. Looks like it
might have been finished with something a long time ago but we both
like the smell of the cedar too much to cover it. We're going to let
it go grey and see what happens. For the price of two hours and one
piece of wood, we think it's worth the experiment. Looks really nice
next to the lilac bush, though. :-)

My own feeling is that the varnish might be sticky in hot weather and
I'm doubtful that it really increases the life of the furniture by a
large amount especially if it's getting well used. Getting it under
cover in wintertime would probably be more important, in my own
opinion. But I don't have the experience to be sure yet.

samson wrote:
I just made some Adirondack chairs from the scraps
of a refurbished cedar deck. The wood looks great
after I ran it across the jointer. My question: should
I let it go gray again with the weather, or should I
put something on it (and if so, what?) to keep the
reddish color?

I like Olympic Maximum Cedar Tinted oil on cedar. It's an oil, so
there's no film. It's an oil so you need to reapply it every other
year, or so.

A guy local to me uses the stuff on the furniture and pergolas that he
sells commercially:
http://www.baldwinfurniture.com/index.php

The cedar tinted mix is better than the clear, as the tint provides UV
protection.

On Wed, 1 Aug 2007 09:25:39 -0500, samson wrote:

I just made some Adirondack chairs from the scraps
of a refurbished cedar deck. The wood looks great
after I ran it across the jointer. My question: should
I let it go gray again with the weather, or should I
put something on it (and if so, what?) to keep the
reddish color?

Thanks,

S.


It's your call. I use a clear UV-protection finish on my outdoor
Adirondack chairs and re-apply every two years. They still look good
after 14 years, although I take them in for the winter months.

On Aug 1, 9:25 am, samson wrote:
I just made some Adirondack chairs from the scraps
of a refurbished cedar deck. The wood looks great
after I ran it across the jointer. My question: should
I let it go gray again with the weather, or should I
put something on it (and if so, what?) to keep the
reddish color?

Thanks,

S.

Never would I put varnish or any other film-forming finish on anything
going outdoors. When the sun destroys the finish (and it will) the
result is a flaking mess. I'd use a penetrating oil finish that you
can just renew instead of having to sand off the old finish to put the
new one on. Most cedars will form splinters if you just let it
weather.

DonkeyHody
"There's a difference between doing things right and doing the right
things."

"Phisherman" wrote in message ...
On Wed, 1 Aug 2007 09:25:39 -0500, samson wrote:

I just made some Adirondack chairs from the scraps
of a refurbished cedar deck. The wood looks great
after I ran it across the jointer. My question: should
I let it go gray again with the weather, or should I
put something on it (and if so, what?) to keep the
reddish color?

Thanks,

S.


It's your call. I use a clear UV-protection finish on my outdoor
Adirondack chairs and re-apply every two years. They still look good
after 14 years, although I take them in for the winter months

And bird poop is a problem with coated finishes - something to do with the acid. I prefer some sort of
oil.

Never would I put varnish or any other film-forming finish on anything
going outdoors. When the sun destroys the finish (and it will) the
result is a flaking mess. I'd use a penetrating oil finish that you
can just renew instead of having to sand off the old finish to put the
new one on. Most cedars will form splinters if you just let it
weather.

DonkeyHody
"There's a difference between doing things right and doing the right
things."


I'll second this!! I put a marine spar varnish on a cedar sandbox and
after a year, that's what I have, a flaky mess!!

"samson" wrote in message
...
I just made some Adirondack chairs from the scraps
of a refurbished cedar deck. The wood looks great
after I ran it across the jointer. My question: should
I let it go gray again with the weather, or should I
put something on it (and if so, what?) to keep the
reddish color?

Thanks,

Penofin oil Has UV protection

In article ,
says...
Subject: Adirondack Chairs
From: B A R R Y
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking

samson wrote:
I just made some Adirondack chairs from the scraps
of a refurbished cedar deck. The wood looks great
after I ran it across the jointer. My question: should
I let it go gray again with the weather, or should I
put something on it (and if so, what?) to keep the
reddish color?

I like Olympic Maximum Cedar Tinted oil on cedar. It's an oil, so
there's no film. It's an oil so you need to reapply it every other
year, or so.

A guy local to me uses the stuff on the furniture and pergolas that he
sells commercially:
http://www.baldwinfurniture.com/index.php

The cedar tinted mix is better than the clear, as the tint provides UV
protection.

Thanks, everyone, for the advice. I'm going to try the
Olympic Maximum Cedar Tinted oil and see how it goes.

Appreciated,

S.

On Aug 2, 1:05 am, samson wrote:
In article ,
says...





Subject: Adirondack Chairs
From: B A R R Y
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking

samson wrote:
I just made some Adirondack chairs from the scraps
of a refurbished cedar deck. The wood looks great
after I ran it across the jointer. My question: should
I let it go gray again with the weather, or should I
put something on it (and if so, what?) to keep the
reddish color?

I like Olympic Maximum Cedar Tinted oil on cedar. It's an oil, so
there's no film. It's an oil so you need to reapply it every other
year, or so.

A guy local to me uses the stuff on the furniture and pergolas that he
sells commercially:
http://www.baldwinfurniture.com/index.php

The cedar tinted mix is better than the clear, as the tint provides UV
protection.

Thanks, everyone, for the advice. I'm going to try the
Olympic Maximum Cedar Tinted oil and see how it goes.

Appreciated,

S.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

My vote is bring them in during off season and let them gray in the
summer. I have enough stuff to maintain without adding an other thing.
My gray chairs look great in my mind, Some people color there hair and
some let it go gray.