Replies

1. 
   John_D | Mar 21, 2006 04:08am | #1

   One option is to pay for access (even just for one month) to the archives here, and you will probably be able to access that article.  Someone who has access (I do not yet) could check it for you before you plunk down the $8 or whatever it is for a month's access...

   My goal is for my work to outlast me.  Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
2. 
   Marion | Mar 22, 2006 05:54pm | #2

   Cypress is an oily wood. That said I have finished it with deft and liked it. And I've finished it with Royal Finish and liked it. Paying for the other side of this site is a bargain. I signed up "for one month" when they first started it. After downloading the first 20 articles I decided that it was cheap. Now they have reduced the cost.

1. 
   poppe | Mar 22, 2006 06:10pm | #3

   Thanks Marion,

   Would sealing it first with Shellac work?

1. 
   Marion | Mar 22, 2006 08:31pm | #4

   I don't think you need to, but it sure wouldn't hurt. I've work with a lot of cypress and I have not done anything special. Good luck.

1. 
   poppe | Mar 24, 2006 12:28am | #6

   Thanks Marion,  I"ll let you know what and how it turns out

1. 
   hjquigley | May 20, 2006 10:21pm | #7

   Hello, I just built a number of Adirondack chairs from Cypris. My plan is to leave a few of them unfinished, will they get that Teak gray look? Can I use a solid color stain on Cyrris, someone said it may be to oily to stain? Is there any pre treatment required>

   Regards,

   Hugh

2. 
   YesMaam27577 | May 21, 2006 03:15am | #8

    

   Hello, I just built a number of Adirondack chairs from Cypris.

    

   Perhaps you really mean Cyprus -- a wood that grows in the swamps in the American south. It looks and works a lot like soft pine, but smells way different.

   Cyprus is amazingly rot resistant, so long as its not in direct contact with the ground. (Even in ground contact, it does fairly well in comparison to most woods.) A cabin near me had cyprus siding which is more than 70 years old, and has never been sealed, painted, or stained.

   But it does not weather to a silvery gray, like teak or cedar might. Instead, it weathers to a brownish black.

    

    Unless you're the lead dog, the view just never changes.

3. 
   hjquigley | May 21, 2006 12:51pm | #11

   Thanks, I'm guessing you left the chairs un finished? Did you ever try staining or painting?

4. 
   mapleman | May 21, 2006 07:32am | #9

   OK Guys, it's Cypress (Taxodium distchum) and it will weather to a silvery-grey or brown color in a few months.I've never seen it turn black. I varnished a chair made from cypress and it looked great for a year or so and then the varnish started to peel in spots and it was just a mess. Great wood to work with otherwise and it looks like a million bucks on inside projects with a clear finish (it tends to stain blotchy like pine) It is NOT an oily wood at all, but a stain conditioner will probably help with the blotchiness. Good luck!

   Lee

   Edited 5/21/2006 12:35 am by mapleman

5. 
   hjquigley | May 21, 2006 12:48pm | #10

   Thanks for the advice and correct spelling of cypress!

3. 
   dherzig | Mar 22, 2006 08:47pm | #5

   I built a vineyard tasting table last summer of cyprus. I finished it with an equal mixture of tung oil, spar varnish and turpentine as described by Garrett Hack (FWW 1/97, p. 48) It was out in the sun on the patio all summer and throughout the Ann Arbor winter. It hase held-up well. When it warms up I may refresh the finish.