Poang chairs

[artme]

Some of you may know these chairs from IKEA,They are made with bent, laminated frames.

Mine are getting on and I am sanding them back and doing some re-gluing here and there.

What would people recommend as a finish as they will be outdoors. The wife wants me to use
some decking finish we have but I'm not so sure.

[Xanthorrhoeas]

The best, long-lasting finish I have found for outside timber furniture is a marine oil called Deks Olje. Available from boating shops like Whitworths. The timber needs to be completely stripped to bare and then you apply the thin #1 oil wet on wet until the timber won't take any more. Do it outside as the solvent is strong. Once that is dry you can apply the thicker #2 oil for a gloss finish (or leave satin from the #1 oil). Re-finishing is easy as you just clean or lightly sand and reapply the #1 oil to freshen them up every 12 months or so - depending on weather exposure.

I have used it on Australian cedar benches on our verandah and on Australian Cedar French doors that get sun exposure. I'm up to 5 years with the doors and 8 years with the benches. The cedar does darken with age but it is still beautiful.

Before I discovered this stuff I used poly finishes and they looked great, but were a pain when they failed. Then I tried decking oil but that required re-coating every three months and even then it went a rather nasty texture with dirt sticking to it.

[artme]

Just the sort of info I was looking for Xanthhereas!! Thank you very much.

Do ypu know if the #1 oil will effect the laminations due to its high solvent content??