Wood for new table??

Bricktop

My brother is building me a table for my birthday and I would like to know what the best wood (reasonably priced) to use is. I know the BGE tables are cypress, but are there any alternatives? How does cedar hold up? I have no experience with wood, so any advice is appreciated.

OMG Eggs

I'm currently using dried doug fir. It has pretty decent outdoor qualities and looks better that ceder IMO. Mine will be under cover and will have a non-wood top, so the elements aren't as much of a concern for me.

There are a number of exotics that would work, but they are $$ and generally harder to work with.

Depending on where you are, different woods will have better availability. If you go to a real lumber yard and tell them what you're building, they'll point you in a good direction.

68rustang

They use Cypress because it is probably the least expensive.

Cypress, Cedar, Redwood, Teak in order of expense.

I just built a table using rough sawn cedar from Lowe's. I went through the whole stack and found 10 12' boards that were clear. Ran them through the planer at work once to smooth out the rough side. Didn't end up costing much more than using pine.

thechief96

We don't have cedar or cypress here. I used red oak. It was a bit pricey though.

russsims

I may not know very much about cooking with a BGE but do know a good bit about wood. Been building furniture for at least 13 years, taking classes at Cerritos College here in So Cal. Build mostly with quarter sawn white oak, mahogany, cherry, and black walnut.

The standard woods most tables I have read about are fine--cypress, cedar, redwood, etc, weather and insect proof soft woods, but surprised some have used woods such as red oak which will not hold up at all in a wet environment. White Oak would be a far better outside wood--Old Iron Sides was made from White Oak. Red Oak rots outside, White Oak does not.

Heavy wood, straight grained, easy to work with, jointery is strong, and finishes well.

Forget teak. Too expensive for most, and will require all your cutting tools to be sharpened after working with it. As teak grows it pulls scilica out of the ground with it==dull saw blades, jointer blades, dull planner blades. Stay away unless you are ready for paying too much for wood and fixing your tools afterwards.

Capt Frank

Cypress is maybe the best choice, not because it is cheap, but because it is virtually rot-proof. There are "Cracker houses" and fishing boats around here that are ancient and still in good shape. It is light weight, works easily, and resists warping and twisting. It is available all over the south but only at local lumber yards, big box stores don't carry it.
Western red cedar is probably the next best choice IMHO

Capt Frank
Homosassa, FL