Best wood for Adirondacks?

[Jim Mackell]

Lots of great suggestions, thanks! Teak is out! Never priced Ipe so I'll have to check that out. White oak is readily available and I suspect I'll give that a try. The redwood I've seen sold here in Maine is crummy beyond words.

I'll update my results in 4 or 5 years!

[Alan Schwabacher]

Composite from recycled plastic sounds reasonable, but plastic is not wood, so appropriate designs are different for the two materials. Here's what happened when someone tried to make picnic tables of one of the composite decking materials:
Bench_Sag.jpg

[Kurt Swanson]

You may want to try Garapa. I've used Garapa, Ipe and Cumaru in several of my own adirondack chairs. Garapa was cheaper, lighter and easier to work with than the other two. Ipe chair was 70lbs, Garapa only 50lbs. It will be almost yellow in color after machining, but will darken to a golden brown color. I stained my chairs with Penofin to seal the color in.

[Curt Harms]

How about Locust if you can find large enough straight enough boards? White Oak is going to be much more available though, and probably easier to work.

[Jerry Miner]

Whatever species you decide on, you might consider dipping the ends of the parts into some penetrating epoxy before painting.

The wood splits at the ends because the end-grain absorbs and releases moisture much faster than the rest of the board-- causing the ends to expand and contract more. Soaking in epoxy will greatly reduce the moisture absorption of the ends.