165 - The Effects of Weather on Untreated Wood

[jdubb1265]

Pretty awesome. With the Padauk, when you use it, does it pretty well stay that color if it is treated or does it still fade to the brownish color as it ages? Never have used it but thinking of ordering some now.

[TheWoodWhisperer]

@jdubb1265 Unfortunately, it does fade dramatically.

[myfaceback100]

great video i was a bit shocked at the oak but with the padauk you get what you pay for i suppose but oak or cherry is not to cheep eather from any hardwood dealer at least in my amounts.

marc as a idea for a video build you could always build a computer station with room for a network storage and a router or a trophy case

[boogerwhopper]

Some of these results kinda' shocked me. I never would have thought that the white oak would have suffered like that. Especially in just a few years. Any thoughts as to why? This seems a bit premature. Do you agree?

Frank

[TheWoodWhisperer]

@boogerwhopper I was surprised too. Since this was a completely unscientific and unintended test, it is hard to determine the exact what's and why's. All we can really do is think, "hmm....that's surprising!" :)

[FurnitureWorkshop]

Your first example looks just like the threshold to the back door of my house.

[entmage]

Have you ever worked with Bog wood?

[TheWoodWhisperer]

@entmage nope

[RickyJ108]

I work for a small company that makes outdoor instruments out of ipe. Stuff holds up pretty nicely.

[industry]

I know you are located at AZ, wondering if all that cracking was caused by the hot and dry weather making the wood probably loose moist extremely fast...... it would be good to know if there is a significant variation on the effect of the weather in the tropics and/or other types of weather... do you have an idea?

[TheWoodWhisperer]

@industry I would guess so. The increased moisture could lead to mold/fungus which would probably accelerate decay.

[totallystupid001]

Great post, thanks!!!

[mmcfreds]

Hey this was my suggestion for the title!!! Can I have my guild membership now?

[TheWoodWhisperer]

@mmcfreds Is your name Dan Johns?

[mmcfreds]

@TheWoodWhisperer Nope, I'm Fred Smith. I saw that you called it "Global Warping Effect" on your FB page but "the effects of weather on untreated wood" on the youtube site. No worries, I live in CT so my shop is closed for the winter.

[TheWoodWhisperer]

@mmcfreds The title is "The Global Warping Effect". I gave it a descriptive title on YouTube for SEO purposes. :)

[wolfmoonct]

@mmcfreds I'm in CT too.. and my shop is closed too.. /grumble. Can't wait for it to warm up just a bit so I don't have to burn a ton of kerosene to warm it up. Waiting till my garage gets up to about 50-55. Then I'll start working again.

[mmcfreds]

@TheWoodWhisperer No worries, please keep up the great work! :)

[IrishWoodDoctor]

white oak, your personal favourite, good choice, mine too. just get someone else to lift the furniture after you make it.

[NaughtyByNaturet]

Thanks for the video

[materiasacra]

Depending on the exact conditions (support, stacking and coverage, exposure to moisture and sun) you get a lot of cupping and bowing in flat and long boards.

When there are not enough dry periods, or moisture is trapped in the wood, the wood will rot, ultimately leaving nothing but black powder.

When thick pieces of oak dry too slow, the cracks will go very deep (much deeper than in other woods). This becomes a runaway process when cracks have reached a certain depth.

[materiasacra]

Interesting video! I do maintenance on window frames etc. When paint has peeled off over large areas, over time you get the effects you show, and much more. The soft parts of the wood shrink, often dramatically, leaving a compact but brittle residue. The hard parts still give the wood strength. Some people find this look fashionable for rough furniture ('rustic French' look), so you can buy 'brushed' boards, where the soft parts have been brushed out with steel brushes to simulate wheathering!

[MBCon18]

Do you have any experience with thermally modified wood? Marketed under the name Cambia by Northland Forest Products, it comes in a variety of species (poplar, red oak, ash) and is supposedly good for outdoors 30 years unfinished. I have recently made some outdoor furniture out of the red oak and trim from the poplar.

[Mr2at]

Great article.

[Sodabowski]

Oh what nice crap! :D

[codyjaybditw]

nice title! ;)

[hedorah99]

Dammit! Why didn't you do balsa wood? How am I supposed to know how those little planes fair in the weather?

[TheWoodWhisperer]

@hedorah99 haha the ones with the rubber band propellers? oh those were a blast until you used it 3-4 times, lol

[hedorah99]

@TheWoodWhisperer Yup, those are them. Would be interesting to see how all the ones I buried in the backyard 30 years ago are doing. lol

[BeeZee2]

@hedorah99 I've seen model planes that have spent a year or more in a tree... I can tell you that they were not airworthy when they returned to earth!

[hypnolobster]

Curious how well Locust would have done.

[ingeniobusca]

Is MDF....heeeee¡¡¡¡

[wdworking]

You should have expounded on the MDF portion. ;-)

[TheWoodWhisperer]

@wdworking hehe, "Notice how it swells like a sponge and starts to wither away into the dust it was made from.."

[sommerbrandon]

@TheWoodWhisperer so you're saying i shouldn't have used mdf as the deck boards for my deck?... :p

[BuickDoc]

@TheWoodWhisperer That sounds, well, almost Biblical...

[ponbass2]

cypress..yes...but your right nothing will last forever outside.I build my blue bird houses out of cypress and ceder..the cypress seems to last longer but my customers seem to prefer the ceder ones and I charge more for them and they cost me alot less to make.

[BNSFfan1996]

cool, i failed... i only got the red oak right

[deleetmeeh]

It's amazing how some woods fair better in the outdoors than others. Wow that grain really pops on the Paduak when it's weathered.

TWW is always the first video I click on in my sub box. I'd be in heaven if you went exclusive on YouTube but I know the Guild is more personable to individuals instead of a large broad audience.

[TheWoodWhisperer]

@deleetmeeh If there were a way to go exclusively free and still feed my family, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But for now I'll just keep trying to get as much stuff out there for free as I can. Thanks for watching.

[deleetmeeh]

@deleetmeeh Well there is always the YouTube Partnership Program. I know woodworking isn't exactly a mainstream but I know some other woodworkers that do alright. I think there is potential especially the way you incorporate more than just basic how to content. Anyways it always gets my wheels turning with how much money people are making off youtube.

[mprimecoleman]

Interesting how returning something back to where it came from, without protection, can harm it so much. I realize this question is perhaps meant for a construction based contractor, but, do you have a product you like for pergolas, decks, etc in the AZ weather besides the brown elastomeric paint that everyone seems to like.

[TheWoodWhisperer]

@mprimecoleman Unfortunately, I don't have much advice when it comes to larger scale projects. I think people would go broke trying to cover a deck with the stuff I use. :) Although they do use it on boats. Talking about Epifanes.

[startreking2007]

Glad to see your back, Hope the family is going well.

[TheWoodWhisperer]

@startreking2007 The boy seems to hate sleeping, but other than that we're good. Thanks for asking!