Garden Chairs are finished

[Ralph Barhorst]

I finally finished making my garden chairs. I plan to use them on my front porch.

They are made of white oak. I used two coats of Smith & Co. Clear penetrating epoxy sealer (CPES) to seal the wood and then five coats of Eifanes High Gloss Clear Varnish, which is primarily used on boats. I think that this will help protect the chairs for quite a while.

The plans were from the January, 2004 issue of American Woodworker. I modified the plans slightly by making the rear legs curved.

[Carl Eyman]

Great looking chairs. Will the chairs be out of the sun pretty much all of the time? If not, good luck on the varnish. I tried to find a marine varnish that would hold up to the sun, but never did.

[Jim Becker]

Those are lovely! Nice jobs!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ralph........Very well thought out and executed! Excellent!

[Ralph Barhorst]

Great looking chairs. Will the chairs be out of the sun pretty much all of the time? If not, good luck on the varnish. I tried to find a marine varnish that would hold up to the sun, but never did.

Carl - Yes they will be in the shade most of the time. They will be on a small porch on the north side of the house and will only see sun in the late evening.

[Jeff Horton]

I tried to find a marine varnish that would hold up to the sun, but never did.

Most non wood boaters don't realize it but boats that sit in the sun typically have their bright work varnished at least yearly. Maybe twice in a really hot climates. Varnish just doesn't last for more than year in the sun.

[Carl Eyman]

Jeff, Here in LA a year is un attainable. A good grade of Spar might go 6 months. Of course the big problem is when the varnish film fails and lets water under the varnishm it discolors and one has to get down to bare wood again DAMHIKT.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

...and the landscaping looks nice too!
-Jeff

[Tyler Howell]

Thrones fit for a king and queen!

[Scott Vigder]

Carl - They will be ... on the north side of the house and will only see sun in the late evening.

Wait, Ralph, we both live in Ohio. Didn't you mean to say the chairs will only see sun once or twice a month, and then for just a few minutes at a time?

[Ron Blaise]

They should last you for quite a spell.