Uses for Redwood?

[Allan Speers]

I was just given a small stash of 50 year old Redwood. Not a lot, maybe 40 BF, but it's really nice stuff. Flat-sawn, but dense straight grained & 100% heartwood. I have no idea what to make with it, if anything.

Sadly, it's already 3/4" (X 8" and 10") but very straight so I won't have to mill off much at all.

Not thick enough for Adirondak chairs, right? And not enough BF for two of them.


Any ideas?

[Andrew Hughes]

Blanket chest box,or outdoor storage box, for shoes or gardening stuff and thingies. Love that old growth redwood solid and hard nothing like what's at the borg.

[Allan Speers]

Hmmm, yeah maybe an outdoor box for something... maybe a cover for a hose reel or something.


Seems like a waste of really nice lumber, though. Anything outdoors will eventually grey, even Redwood, no?

[Andrew Hughes]

Yeah if it's in the sun it will turn gray,at least it will be a nice gray.👍

[Frank Drew]

Customer asked for redwood doors, both exterior and interior, so that's what I made. Aside from being somewhat soft, redwood's main issue, IMO, is its tendency to shelling -- delamination along the grain lines.

[Lee Schierer]

Not thick enough for Adirondak chairs, right? And not enough BF for two of them.


Any ideas?

I would think it would work fine for Adirondak chairs. Just be sure to use stainless fasteners to avoid staining.

In 1962, I made my mother a cutting board out of heart redwood that was made of two pieces glued together with Elmer's White glue. She used it for over 50 years and now it is going into use by the next generation. I think the glue failed once or twice, but a quick pass across the jointer and more glue put it back together again.

[Al Launier]

I was just given a small stash of 50 year old Redwood. Not a lot, maybe 40 BF, but it's really nice stuff. Flat-sawn, but dense straight grained & 100% heartwood. I have no idea what to make with it, if anything.

Sadly, it's already 3/4" (X 8" and 10") but very straight so I won't have to mill off much at all.

Not thick enough for Adirondak chairs, right? And not enough BF for two of them.


Any ideas?

Personally I think they are thick enough at 3/4" providing they are reasonably flat to begin with. Heavier wood would add to the weight. As for not having enough, perhaps you could use another type wood, i.e. cedar, etc., for contrast in "strategic" locations to provide your own uniqued "A" chair.

[Bill Huber]

I have not use a lot of redwood but I did make a nice Adirondak chairs about 8 years ago and it is still going, never been put inside, has set out all that time.

103628430.DoJNpF3z.P4184838.jpg

[Jeffrey Martel]

What about a boat? You couldn't make an entire boat out of it, obviously, but a skin on frame boat would benefit from using Redwood. It's a good outdoor wood that is super lightweight and takes steam bending well.

This one uses plywood frames, but you can find others that would use steam bent frames. I have the plans for this, just haven't had time to make it yet.

http://gentrycustomboats.com/Whitehallpage.html

[Allan Speers]

Personally I think they are thick enough at 3/4" providing they are reasonably flat to begin with. Heavier wood would add to the weight. As for not having enough, perhaps you could use another type wood, i.e. cedar, etc., for contrast in "strategic" locations to provide your own uniqued "A" chair.

That's not a bad idea! I have a ton of White Oak, which is very weather resistant. It might contrast well with some kind of analine dye, or maybe "ebonized."


Bill, that chair you show is actually unfinished, and been outside for 8 years? I find that surprising, to put it mildly. I love that design, BTW. - And that's some lovely wood. Mine looks just like that.

[Allan Speers]

What about a boat? You couldn't make an entire boat out of it, obviously, but a skin on frame boat would benefit from using Redwood. It's a good outdoor wood that is super lightweight and takes steam bending well.

Nice idea. - But I can't swim.

(Seriously. Even if I fill my lungs with air, I still sink like a stone.)

[Bill Huber]

Bill, that chair you show is actually unfinished, and been outside for 8 years? I find that surprising, to put it mildly. I love that design, BTW. - And that's some lovely wood. Mine looks just like that.

Well I guess that picture is kind of like a TV ad....

That picture was taken when I first made the chair, it is now nice and gray.

[Tom M King]

I built these exact reproductions of early 19th Century basement windows out of Redwood because we couldn't find large enough pieces of recycled Heart Pine that were check free. The outsides were painted anyway. I remembered reading that Redwood "takes paint well".....Takes paint so well that it took three coats of primer before we could tell it had anything on it! Bars were made from White Oak. We had one original side piece, one top piece, and we knew the size of the original openings, to know how to make the replacements.
http://historic-house-restoration.co...s/DSCN8447.JPG

[Mel Fulks]

Interesting observation, Tom. I haven't had to do much painting of redwood and used solid color stain which worked ok. I did glue up some of the best available redwood 15 years ago for material to be turned. Used yellow glue on a hot day ,left it in clamps for three hours or more. When I started removing clamps the edges of the joints immediately started to open a bit,so I quickly put them back and left them on for a couple of days and they seemed ok. Called glue company tech line and was told that "I can see how that could happen ,but I think it will be ok". Since then I've used only rescorcinal or UF glue.The wood was freshly sanded to asure suitable unoxidized surfaces ,so I don't know what the problem was. Strange material.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I was just given a small stash of 50 year old Redwood. Not a lot, maybe 40 BF, but it's really nice stuff. Flat-sawn, but dense straight grained & 100% heartwood. I have no idea what to make with it, if anything.

Sadly, it's already 3/4" (X 8" and 10") but very straight so I won't have to mill off much at all.

Not thick enough for Adirondak chairs, right? And not enough BF for two of them.


Any ideas?

I used clear all-heart redwood for the racks and sliding trays in the 25 case wine cooler I built.

I "had to have" redwood, for some reason. A monumental waste of $$$, but it sure looks great.