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If you paint them and maintain the paint, it almost doesn't matter what species you use. Doug fir is fine. White oak is fine. Redwood or cedar is fine. You could conceivably use poplar, but I'd avoid it simply because it's on the soft side of woods and little dings will dent the surface. If you use fir, cedar, or redwood, make sure to prep the surface for painting to avoid any resins in the wood preventing good paint adhesion.
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Allan Hill
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(10-02-2019, 01:53 PM)Enigmatic Wrote: I'd go with cypress if it was my project.
Lasts forever & the bugs do not like it.
This.
Wood is good.
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(10-03-2019, 08:17 AM)AHill Wrote: If you paint them and maintain the paint, it almost doesn't matter what species you use. Doug fir is fine. White oak is fine. Redwood or cedar is fine. You could conceivably use poplar, but I'd avoid it simply because it's on the soft side of woods and little dings will dent the surface. If you use fir, cedar, or redwood, make sure to prep the surface for painting to avoid any resins in the wood preventing good paint adhesion.
Poplar rots faster than red oak, even painted. I used poplar for corner boards and fascia board on a house. 4 years later I had to remove ,install white pine at my cost. The boards were primed inside and out and two coats of paint on the face.
At the time I did not know poplar rots quickly.
mike
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IPE is a great wood for outdoor use but it's called ironwood for a reason. I would not consider turning it unless you want to resharpen your tools every 2 minutes or so. It's very hard on tools.
Another option is Thermally Modified Poplar. When complete, the process carmelizes the sugars in the wood which gives a dark brown appearance all the way through the wood. The process allows the poplar to become much more water resistant and decay resistant.
Telling a man he has too many tools,
is like telling a woman she has too many shoes.
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(10-02-2019, 01:29 PM)KLaz Wrote: We tore out an existing one and sure enough they were Doug Fir.
if those were original parts then they lasted a long time so doug fir would work.
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Thanks for all the recommendations! The owner has my budget so now I'm just waiting to see how they want to proceed. Now the question is.....do I turn all these by hand or get a duplicator? Close to 80 all together!
"This is our chance, this our lives, this is our planet we're standing on. Use your choice, use your voice, you can save our tomorrows now." - eV
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Get a duplicator or you will spend a heck of a lot of time with a calipers. That close together any variance will be noticeable.Good excuse for a new tool.
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(10-07-2019, 08:10 AM)KLaz Wrote: Thanks for all the recommendations! The owner has my budget so now I'm just waiting to see how they want to proceed. Now the question is.....do I turn all these by hand or get a duplicator? Close to 80 all together!
I haven't used a duplicator so I won't comment on that. I have turned a number of spindles for balusters both interior and exterior.
If I have one baluster that is in decent shape I mount it on the lathe. I cut straight pieces of wire from old coat hangers and make a loop at one end. The loop is made for 3/4" steel pipe. Pipe is mounted behind the bed and above the centerline of the work. Each loop is slid over to a spot on the pipe which corresponds with a high or low spot on the spindle . Several turns of masking tape on each side of each loop keeps it in place.
The wires are cut so the ends just touch the work. I'll wind up with a number of different length wires which correspond to the heights and shallows of the spindle. This enables me to quickly rough out a spindle.
mike
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10-15-2019, 03:47 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-15-2019, 03:53 PM by KLaz.)
Well, I got out of the balluster work. The owner found these composite ballusters from Ekena Millwork to use. Good thing because there ended up being 100 ballusters!
But I still have to build the curved railings top and bottom, assemble and install the three sections.
Going to be intertesting!
Will post pics over the next few weeks once we get started!
"This is our chance, this our lives, this is our planet we're standing on. Use your choice, use your voice, you can save our tomorrows now." - eV
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Where I am people commonly say they used “mahogany “ for outdoor decking however in fact it is meranti which looks a lot like african mahogany.
I helped a friend rebuild a 100+ year old porch north of Boston a few years ago with it and I really liked working with it. It also cost less than South America mahogany.
He painted it white and it has held up extremely well. I only found it milled into decking materials rather than rough sawn.
Just a suggestion to look for. Hopefully it helps.
Mike
