Anyone use butternut for outdoor furniture?

[Jim Terrill]

I have built a few chairs out of cedar decking, but it appears as though my Lowes doesn't carry it anymore (it was always soaking wet anyways, so I suppose it isn't a great loss). I read that butternut was good for outdoor furniture though it is soft. Well, I can't imagine that it's much softer than cedar, but I'm just wondering how well it would hold up to the elements of New England, and if anyone has any finishes that have worked well for them in the past on it. I'd love it if I could just get more (dry) cedar, but butternut at .70 bdft is much more enticing than teak/mahogany/ipe at 4+ bdft, though if they will only last a year, the savings are not worth it.

[Howard Acheson]

Butternut decay resistance is rated as "poor" by the US Wood Products Lab. I would not use it for outdoor furniture if it will be exposed to the elements long term.

Bald Cypress is an excellent outdoor wood and not too expensive in many parts of the country.

[Callan Campbell]

White Oak, Black Locust, Cypress, Cedar, all good outdoor project woods. White Oak, unlike Red Oak, has a unique cell structure to help keep water at bay. It's heavy/dense, so if you have to move your project around or store them for winter, you may cuss if the thing weighs alot while you're carrying it. I can get Cedar from Home Depot most of the time, but they stock it in two different aisles. "Deck" only material, is all together, or anything 2x, the 4x4 posts, and other things close to Decking type material like narrow 5/4 boards or fence boards. 1x wider boards, 6 foot long and longer, are sold in the Hardwood aisle along with the Red Oak, Poplar and other stuff. I always have to remind myself to check ALL the aisles because of the way they stock the material.
I like Cedar too, because of the lower cost and the lighter weight, but the above Hardwoods, and Cypress, are known good alternatives.

[Jim Terrill]

Well I went to go look at the wood that a guy was selling today and he had locust for .70bdft. Well that is what he said it was, but after some creative measuring on his part, I walked off with about 50bdft for $13. Really nice guy, can't wait to start working with it.

[Peter Quinn]

Well I went to go look at the wood that a guy was selling today and he had locust for .70bdft. Well that is what he said it was, but after some creative measuring on his part, I walked off with about 50bdft for $13. Really nice guy, can't wait to start working with it.

Black locust? Its like the American version of IPE. Hard, nasty and tough for outdoor use. Most of it never reaches maturity due to a disease these days, so its not a commercial crop. Did I mention heavy? And nasty? And hard? They used to make mud sills out of it that can out last pressure treated timbers. Teh mud sill on my old house is locust, and its hard, heavy, nasty, tough.....great for outdoor projects, bad for wood workers.