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Thread: Best woods for outdoors?

  1. #1

    Best woods for outdoors?

    I'm starting a project, making a wooden sheath for a 12" machete. I'll probably use something soft for the trial project, but want to use something that stands up to the elements for a final project. I know teak is popular for patio furniture, but what other options are out there? Suggestions for finishing are also welcome.

  2. #2
    Teak is best, if you choose to not treat it, it will grey but still hold up to the outdoor environment. Ipe is also used for outdoor decking. I don't think it is much cheaper than teak though. Mahogany is used instead of teak on boats. It will need to be treated though.

  3. #3
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    Redwood is cheap and easy to buy. Might just laminate two fence boards together. Soft and easy to work.
    Bill

  4. #4
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    White oak. Stands up to water quite well -- wine and whisky barrels are made of it. Quite strong -- Old Ironsides is planked with it. Glues well, unlike teak. Retailers here sell it for $5 per bdft, while teak is more like $30 pre bdft.

  5. #5
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    White oak can be great ... you do have to be careful that the "species" you select is indeed White oak (has tyloses plugged pores). That's the property imparting rot resistance (prevents it from soaking up water and degrading chemicals) in the White Oak genus. An easy and fast test is to stand a plug in water and/or denatured alcohol (see video below). Another native hardwood that has rot resistant properties is Black locust. Black locust is very hard and in fact some complain it can be difficult to mill though I haven't experienced that. Based on the wood database properties, Black locust compares favorably to the strongest/hardest of the native american hardwoods. I included a section that includes Black locust, some White oaks and Hickories.

    Here is a great video by Louis Sauzadde giving a demonstration on how to definitively identify White oak for outdoor projects. He also goes into the process whereby (in marine environment) Red oak deteriorates.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6t2...ature=youtu.be
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    Cherry and Walnut are both resistant. I have a 10 year old walnut table that has held up fine. Somewhat cheaper than mahogany.

  7. #7
    Thank you all for your advice. I'm in Omaha, Nebraska, so I'll look around for a local source for white oak. I hadn't thought about gluing tropical woods, I'm glad I asked.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Eckel View Post
    Thank you all for your advice. I'm in Omaha, Nebraska, so I'll look around for a local source for white oak. I hadn't thought about gluing tropical woods, I'm glad I asked.
    Some tropical woods glue just fine, but teak is notorious for gluing issues. All the waxes and oils in it protect it from weather, but also do a great job of protecting it from glue.

  9. #9
    Very helpful. Thank you!

  10. #10
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    I made a trebuchet out of some leftover walnut and cedar a couple of summers ago. I left it outside for quite a while and it just so happened to have both walnut and cedar touching the ground. Both wood types didn't rot, but flipping over the bottom revealed something neat: there were bugs all over the walnut and zero on the cedar. it was kind of neat to see such a difference. Just food for thought.

  11. #11
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    What about Osage Orange?

  12. #12
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    Just a thought; a lot of the woods mentioned for their ability to stand up to rot do so because they contain acids that are somewhat corrosive... especially in wet / humid conditions. If the goal is the protection of the blade, you may want to consider a slightly inferior wood that would be less damaging to the blade. I am guessing you won't want to leave it exposed to the elements all the time anyway, so maybe corrosion is not that big a concern, but if it's not exposed to the elements, then rot resistance of the sheath shouldn't be that big a concern either.

  13. #13
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    I'd probably use old growth douglas fir for something like this.
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  14. #14
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    There should be lots of osage in fence rows near Omaha. Finishes nicely and can have interesting grain pattern as well.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Holcombe View Post
    I'd probably use old growth douglas fir for something like this.
    Old growth lumber may be out of my price range.

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