Now just give me a listen, I haven’t done anything yet.
I was going over my wife’s request for some new deck furniture, and whilst thinking about what to make it out of, I thought “why not make it out of Trex or some other composite decking material.
So… why not? I’ve never used it for anything so I don’t know it’s working characteristics, but I assume that it would machine fairly easily. Weatherability would not be an issue. I would use a poly glue or maybe an epoxy, combined with screws at major stress points.
Cost wise I think it would be cheaper that Cyprus or ipe. So give me your thoughts, or if you’ve actually tried this, your experience.
Replies
Yikes Justus! You sure you want to open up that can? Sorry I can't offer any opinions, but as I must admit, I've had impure thought about Trex myself,so I'm curious too. Just glad you brought it up, not me. Have a good evening,
I've seen outdoor benches made from Trex. These are made from 10 or 12 lengths of 2x4 material attached to two concrete supports. The spacing between the supports is about 4 feet. Trex must have tremendous creep because after only a couple of years the bench has significant sag. Pretty sad looking. If you do make furniture from it make sure you don't have much unsupported length. I would not use it due to the creep. I don't like the look of the material either.
To save a lot of time and trouble, why not just shred your own plastic drink bottles, fill up 40 gal trash bags about 2/3 full and give her patio bean bag chairs? :)
John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
John -
I think it'd be better to not shred the plastic bottles and to screw the caps back on. More of a high dollar 'air cushion' chair!
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
Structural and appearance questions aside, I find that the composite material gets pretty hot in the sun. Walking barefoot on a composite deck in the summer can make you want to step along briskly - sorta like walking on a hot sidewalk. - lol
Imagine the feeling on the backs of your legs as you stretch out with your cold beer or glass of tea.
Edited 4/8/2004 10:30 am ET by Dave
Trex does machine pretty easily and cleanly. You can saw it, rout it, and even run it through a jointer. It does cold-flow, so that it sags over time. If you use short pieces you should be able to get around that. Gluing it may be a problem. The stuff is mostly recycled plastic, and as you know not too many wood glues stick well to plastic. However, people built furniture long before strong glues were available -- use mechanically interlocking joints like mortise & tenon, and screws.
Justus, Remember some years ago the outcry when Norm Abrams face was on the cover of FWW. Now you are suggesting Trex furniture in Knots! The only way to justify? such a proposal is to insist you will use Japanese joinery as a penance<g>
Jako
I'm used to it, I might be part of something that will create more hate mail than even Norm's picture on the cover did.
I love wood, I think wood is great, I'm a wood worker. But I still take advantage of technology whenever I think it's a good thing. Does anybody still rip all their lumber by hand?
I'm going to make a small stool out of composite decking, and I'm going to make it with old fashioned joints, and I'm going to stick it out on my deck and see what happens. I'll keep you posted. Justus Koshiol
Running Pug Construction
Yehh, I'm a wood lover too, and that's what leads me to things like Trex for outdoor use. Wood (particularly unpainted) is just going to get beat up out there. I love it too much to do that to do it. Go for Trex outdoors, and use all that woodworkers knowledge of joinery to make that difficult material hold together.
Wonder if PVC or ABS cement would work?
I used Trex for all the trim around my windows, and for making a replacement sash for some friends. It worked really well for that. It is easy to work, but since the lumber in it is recycled, there are bits of metal in it. So you run a risk (fairly high) of damaging anything like planer or jointer blades or a good saw blade.
But, Trex has lots of disadvantages for furniture. It creeps a lot over time. It's weak, so fasteners pull out easily and it can't support much of a load. It's not intended for structural purposes, which the manufacturer clearly states.
Most glues won't stick to it. Since the plastic in it is polyethylene, solvent cements like those for PVC or ABS will not work. If I were to experiment with a glue it would be polyurethane first.
It paints well, and weathers very well. It would be good for something like a picknic table top. But I would not use it for supporting members.
Being a wood worker you may find a challenge in making it work.
I've been a wood worker for many years, and picked up my first issue of Fine Woodworking because there was a picture of Norm Abrams on the cover and I wanted to read about him. I liked the magazine so much I subscribed and have been a subscriber to it, and shortly thereafter, to Fine Homebuilding, ever since.
Woodworkers have been combining non-wood materials with wood for centuries. For example, metals of all sorts, mother of pearl, stones, leather, corian. It can be done sucessfully and tastefully.
I made my deck of black locust. I think it would make great deck furniture.
Frank
We recently used trx on a boat dock which was in the sun all the time. The result was that it creeped so much that it was unusable. The fac tory reps came out and replaced it all with their own crew and it is doing the same thing. Hope this helps you decide, bob
I built my deck using Ipe. Trex was eliminated ......... no, it was never in contention. We want to enjoy our deck.
Using trex for furniture has never crossed my mind.
I suggest that you make your world a better place and use some wood.
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