Recently I tried somethingon my garden beds I used on my hammers for a few years, basically I burned the wood, scrapped off the excess char, rubbed on a coat of boiled linseed oil, burned it again and repeated 2 or 3 times. I was told that was how they made the black stave churches in Europe but have looked into it and it’s not quite what they did. It leaves the wood black obviously but it lasts longer than paint( I’m not planning to touch it again for 5 years and even then likely won’t replace anything), and looks way nicer in my opinion.
That’s a great idea. If I recall, there’s a similar type of finish in Japanese woodworking called shou sugi ban and it looks stunning.
Shou sugi ban is the trademarked name, but a lot of people use this term because that’s the name they’ve heard. Yakisugi is the term for the technique if I remember correctly. But it is absolutely beautiful, you can find some lovely examples of outdoor furniture with this method alone and with combining yakisugi and colored wood stain.
I think it depends on how much you are willing to maintain it and if you are flexible on the types of materials you use. Where you live will have a significant impact as well, if you live near the sea up north then you are going to have a harder time than if you live inland in the south.
BLO works but you will have to maintain it regularly and how regularly depends on the weather.
You can use specific wood types that work well outside; pressure treated timber starts off looking a blue/green colour but fades to a silver and won’t need looking after for a long time. Teak is the classic option for outdoor furniture as it’s naturally resistant to pests and erosion, it’s an exotic hard wood though so not the most sustainable. White oak is resistant to rot as well but isn’t easily available. . Any of these with an annual coat of BLO will probably keep them looking new, if you don’t mind them becoming more rustic then you can leave it for longer.
I’d love to know this too!
