Outdoor Bench/Arbor from Ipe

[Chris Padilla]

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Some wood arrived Friday morning. I've never seen delivered wood packaged so (frustratingly) well in my life! Cardboard was wrapped around bubble wrap and the ends all plastic wrapped...several times! I swear (and believe me I don't swear!) it took me 20 minutes per package to get all that stuff off! But underneath...

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...was some pretty stuff! I'm looking forward to building this project. This is some heavy, dense wood!

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Here it sits in my back yard acclimating for a week although I doubt I'll be getting to it for several weeks.

Now what to build? :)

[Chris Padilla]

There are 20 5/4 x 6" x 7' boards. That is 87.5 bf.
There are 2 4 x 4 x 7' posts. That is 14.3 bf.

[Andrew Hughes]

Oh yeah looks good to me,Is it Ipe? I just sneezed Ipe make me sneeze.:)

[Chris Padilla]

Yes! It is most certainly Ipe! These boards weigh a ton!

[Jamie Buxton]

Looks darn good. Buying wood without seeing it first makes me nervous, but that looks darn good.

[Frederick Skelly]

Chris, who did you buy it from?

Also, was it sent by UPS/FEDEX? (Didnt realize theyd handle wood that long).

[Bill Orbine]

What to build?????......hmmmmm!!!!!!......how about a 70 square foot deck??

[Chris Padilla]

I purchased all this from Ipe Depot (http://www.ipedepot.com/) which is basically Advantage Lumber (http://www.advantagelumber.com/).

They have a nice sale going on for ipe decking which is basically what I bought.

For me, they shipped it up from in Southern California in a truck for $160, which I found quite reasonable. It showed up 5 days from ordering it despite them telling me it would be 10-14 days.

I'm quite pleased with what I got. There are a few saw marks on some of the planks but one face is always good so no biggie but everything looks quite straight. Most of the boards are very clear with few knots so I don't expect any movement issues with most of the boards. The posts look very nice and clean.

While these boards are considered 'decking,' I won't be building a deck per se.... :)

[Mike Cutler]

Nice Chris!!

It looks like you have an interesting project going there. ;)

I used Advantage Lumber to buy the Bubinga flooring for our kitchen. I too was very pleased with the quality and condition of the material.

[Chris Padilla]

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A few other items showed up with the decking. I plan to face screw everything so I picked up some plugs.

Mike, that is good to hear. Sounds like we have a good place for good lumber. I kinda wish they had a local spot up here in the BA now. :D

[Chris Padilla]

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So this is what I'm planning to build. I guess it is a bench arbor? Pergola? It will be a spot to lay and dry out after swimming.

We'll have pots on either side of it and grow some kind of vine thingy through it...maybe.

We are resurfacing our pool and redoing most of the back yard with new stamped concrete so I think this will be a nice addition to everything.

[Mike Cutler]

Chris

I think that's going to look very nice. Beats drying out sitting on the diving board as a kid. ( Are those still allowed in backyard pools?) If you could control it, Wisteria, that would look stunning. Small leaf English Ivy would be easier to control.
Ipe was a great choice for it too. It will weather really well.

[John TenEyck]

Chris, that looks like a nice project and a nice little pile of wood. This is the pile acclimating in my back yard:

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I bought it from Advantage Lumber - all 2 tons of it. Excellent quality - and very, very heavy. If you are gluing any of it together, what glue do you plan to use? Advantage Lumber recommends Gorilla Glue or Epoxy but I'd rather use TB III if possible.

John

[Chris Padilla]

Nice haul, John!

I do have plans for some gluing and will use polyurethane (Gorilla Glue) to do it.

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This part of the arbor will need two boards glued and screwed together.

I'm thinking a half-lap joint of several inches and then the fancy shaped board screwed/maybe glued around it.

[Chris Padilla]

Chris

I think that's going to look very nice. Beats drying out sitting on the diving board as a kid. ( Are those still allowed in backyard pools?) If you could control it, Wisteria, that would look stunning. Small leaf English Ivy would be easier to control.
Ipe was a great choice for it too. It will weather really well.

I'm putting our diving board back in...kid insisted. :)

Thanks for the tips on the plants.

[John TenEyck]

Thanks Chris. I'm going to do some test glue ups with TB III and Gorilla Glue to see how they compare. I need to glue some spines in the ends of boards as well as glue in plugs where I will need to use face screws. Most of the deck will use hidden fasteners - over 750 of them. Good luck with your project. Look forward to seeing pictures of the finished product.

John

[Victor Robinson]

Very cool project - looking forward to following along! What's your plan for sealing/oiling?

Also thanks for the heads-up on the decking sale going on. Need to figure out my final amounts and place an order for my decking from them (either ipe or cumaru, haven't decided). Glad to hear ordering to the BA from them worked out well.

[Chris Padilla]

See post #10, Victor. :D

Yes, it worked out well. Have fun removing all that packaging and be sure the recycle bin is empty because it'll fill up FAST! LOL

[Victor Robinson]

See post #10, Victor. :D


Ha, missed that pic somehow. More long-term though, do you think you will continue to oil it or let it go gray?

[Chris Padilla]

I guess we'll see how much Ipe Oil is left after the initial soak and go from there. I'm thinking my wife will want it kept that darkish, reddish, brownish color so maybe she'll touch it up as needed. I'll be curious how long it'll go before needing attention. It gets good midday sun but by 3ish the house is blocking the sun.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Oh yeah looks good to me,Is it Ipe? I just sneezed Ipe make me sneeze.:)

Oh I forgot how much IPE and me don't get along, I dont sneeze, I feel more like someone put Tabasco on my face..This is definitely my last IPE project..

[Robert LaPlaca]

I guess we'll see how much Ipe Oil is left after the initial soak and go from there. I'm thinking my wife will want it kept that darkish, reddish, brownish color so maybe she'll touch it up as needed. I'll be curious how long it'll go before needing attention. It gets good midday sun but by 3ish the house is blocking the sun.

Chris, not sure how much sun your pergola/bench is going to get.. I can tell you that oiling the IPE and a good amount of sun equals about 120-130 degrees F, the IPE sure looks trick oiled, but your backside may not appreciate it..

[Chris Padilla]

Robert,

Perhaps climbing out of swimming pool, it might be bearable? I guess we'll see how that goes. Putting a towel down might be necessary, eh? :)

As to oiling it, are you saying it stains things? I noticed that upon carrying the wood from my garage to the back yard on my shoulder that my shirt yellowed up a bit.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Robert,

Perhaps climbing out of swimming pool, it might be bearable? I guess we'll see how that goes. Putting a towel down might be necessary, eh? :)

As to oiling it, are you saying it stains things? I noticed that upon carrying the wood from my garage to the back yard on my shoulder that my shirt yellowed up a bit.

Chris, Ipe when cut, shaped or sanded somehow creates a yellow saw dust, not that dark brownish the material typically shows...

As for the the oil, I used a Penofin product especially made for Ipe.. The Ipe is so dense the oils don't penetrate very far at all, so sometimes the oils can tend to get sticky if not wiped completely off, sometimes getting all the oil off is the not the easiest of tasks.. At the very least the oil needs to be applied quite frequently if one wants the super dark brown color.. The worse that happens if one changes there mind is the Ipe will turn a greyish color..

[Chris Padilla]

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I'm forming the concrete piers to hold the 4x4 posts for the arbor. Sketch-Up is pretty cool in that it'll report the volume of the shape: 2400 in^3 or about 1.4 ft^3. So 2 1/3 80# bags of concrete ought to take care of one pier and I'll need 3 piers so 7 bags should be good (middle pier is smaller).


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I'm hoping to end up with this form. I'll need to pour two more like this and so I'm looking for good ideas for a concrete release agent so that I can reuse this form. I read that mineral oil works; painting works; waxing via carnauba wax works; adding poly (plastic sheeting) works. Plastic sounds like a pain to work with so I'm leaning towards digging out the car wax and smearing it all over. :)

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In case you're curious about the 'dadoes' in the form, they will take a piece of wood thus allowing me to trim out the concrete block. The inset wood will stand proud of the form by about 1/8".

[Victor Robinson]

C'mon, all theory. We want some REAL pics!! :)

[Chris Padilla]

I'll take some this weekend as I pour the concrete! :D

[Jamie Buxton]

concrete release agent ..

Do you change your own oil in your car? Used motor oil works well, and is free.

[Bruce Page]

Those 80# bags will build you some character!

[Chris Padilla]

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Ready to pour some concrete!!

I epoxied the rebar into the existing concrete.

I used my heat gun to massage that pvc conduit to get the box somewhat plumbish...kinda sorta but not really. :)

It'll all be hidden under the bench anyway so no big deal.

[Matt Day]

Do you have a vibrator? (Let the jokes begin)

It would be good for those edges at the dado. HF has one for about $75 that might be worth a shot, no personal experience though.

[Chris Padilla]

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And with the power of time, here are the 3 completed concrete piers! :D

Concrete is not my favorite medium to work in. The one with the electrical box was the first and I had to go back and use some fast set stuff to fix corners and edges.

The other one with the Simpson bracket came out nicely (mixed a little wetter...jammed it in a little tighter...beat it a bit more with the hammer).

And the third one, the smallest, came out okay and good enough. It'll all be covered with ipe and should serve to support the 4x4s just fine. :)

[Bruce Page]

Looks pretty darn good to me. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon14.pnghttp://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon14.png
I hate working with concrete. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon8.png

[Chris Padilla]

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I'm gluing up some corners using poly GG glue. Ipe is strange stuff to work!

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This was the nicer one...others weren't as good but I wasn't looking for perfection.

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Ipe's sawdust is a powdery yellow yet is smells kind of sweet and I bet would smoke meat quite nicely. The poly, however, mixed with it turns red!

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Here I'm plugging the screw holes. Notice this corner isn't the best but it looks fine from a distance and I'm cool with that. I just wanted the miters to stay somewhat closed. I have my landscaper adding ledge stone to the small concrete knee wall there. It took 3 drills to install the trim boards! One drill to make a 3/8" hole for the ipe plug, one drill to punch a 1/8" hole through that and into the support board behind it because pilot holes are an absolute must with this hard, dense wood. Every screw will break without one. The final drill was to drive the SS screws in. Then some GG and tap the plug home.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

This is very nice looking project.
Did you fix any way support board in concrete block?

Ed.

[John TenEyck]

Good progress Chris. I used Gorilla Glue to glue up the corners of the planter boxes on my new deck. It worked well, or at least none of the joints have let loose after a month or so. I drove 5+ boxes of those DeckMate SS screws, like shown in your picture. I pre drilled every hole and never broke one. I didn't find Ipe' as hard to work with as many claim. I made hundreds of cuts with my CMS on the same blade I've used for 5 years. It still cut fine after the job, though I got it sharpened out of respect. I also jointed and planed some with the straight HSS knives in both machines, and they are still fine, too. It's hard, but it's not the tool eating beast some make it out to be. But it sure is heavy. Man, is it heavy.

Look forward to more progress.

John

[Chris Padilla]

This is very nice looking project.
Did you fix any way support board in concrete block?

Ed.

GG all around, Ed. Man, that stuff truly does glue everything!!

And thanks for the kudos! :D

[Chris Padilla]

Good progress Chris. I used Gorilla Glue to glue up the corners of the planter boxes on my new deck. It worked well, or at least none of the joints have let loose after a month or so. I drove 5+ boxes of those DeckMate SS screws, like shown in your picture. I pre drilled every hole and never broke one. I didn't find Ipe' as hard to work with as many claim. I made hundreds of cuts with my CMS on the same blade I've used for 5 years. It still cut fine after the job, though I got it sharpened out of respect. I also jointed and planed some with the straight HSS knives in both machines, and they are still fine, too. It's hard, but it's not the tool eating beast some make it out to be. But it sure is heavy. Man, is it heavy.

Look forward to more progress.

John

Drilling it, I'm finding the sawdust doesn't flow very well and sticks to the flutes so it is drill a few eighths...retract and clean...drill again...retract and clean.

It isn't too bad to work with but the powdery yellow sawdust is a bit strange and really coats things nicely. I still have more to go cutting with it but it seems my tools are doing all right.

Yeah, quite heavy. Now to the bench! :)

[Kent A Bathurst]

......... the powdery yellow sawdust is a bit strange and really coats things.....

Wearing our dust mask, are we Cap'n?

[Chris Padilla]

:D I suspect me lungs are coated like me CMS! But, yeah, I PROBABLY should be wearing a mask....

[Chris Padilla]

So I need to get some power to the top of the arbor because I have some cool colored LED strips that I will mount up there.

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So out came my trusty Colt and I tossed a 1/8" router bit in there and cut me a groove 3/8" deep in one of the 4x4 posts. Those holes there are for the Simpson bracket. I'm planning to string #14 along there and 1/8" works nicely. The wires fit on top of each other.

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To reseal the groove, I have some scrap ipe that I cut to 9/64" thick on the bandsaw and I will sand the edges slightly and with some GG, pound them home into the groove. This groove on the column will be facing the fence so it doesn't have to be perfect but we'll see how this turns out when I'm done.

[Chris Padilla]

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So I pulled out about 15' of wire and stuffed it in the groove and started gluing and pounding in the fillers. I'm not too worried but I wonder if Gorilla Glue and THHN #14 wire are okay with each other? I guess I should have tested it ahead of time but I guess this is the test! LOL

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Couple shots of the finished glue up. Tomorrow evening I'll sand everything down nice 'n smooth. I'm curious how it'll look.

[John TenEyck]

I had the same issue drilling Ipe', Chris. It would plug up the flutes in just a few eigths and I'd have to pull it out and clean them before drilling more. I think the problem is because the wood is only partially air dried when shipped, meaning it's still pretty wet. When it's yellow or green inside, it's wet. The dry stuff is much browner. Even letting it sit stickered for 2 weeks before using it didn't appreciably lower the MC. Of course, after I put it down it dried over the next month or so, and all my carefully controlled gaps opened up. The stuff I used at the end of the project was definitely drier and clogged up drills much less. If anyone is planning a project with Ipe' I recommend you let it sit stickered for at least a month before using it, preferably somewhere where a breeze can freely flow through it.

John

[Chris Padilla]

My stuff's been drying for a good month or two by now and the flutes still get gummed up but I think you're right.

[Chris Padilla]

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Here we are all cleaned and sanded up. Not bad...not bad.

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This will be hidden behind the bracket so no big deal on how this looks.

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The is the top and the most exposed for the wires. I need to do something about that just not quite sure what at this point.

[Bruce Page]

Hey Mr. Moderator, some of your pictures are giving me a sore neck! :)

[Chris Padilla]

LOL! Don't turn your head...look at the pics the way I posted 'em. :D

[Bruce Page]

I can't, I'm afraid your drum sander is going to fall over on me!

[Chris Padilla]

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A couple jigs I whipped up to make some fancy-ish cuts....

The bench is NEARLY done so some final pics should come after this coming weekend. :)