Will dovetail joints survive outside?
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- This topic has 20 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 11 months ago by Larry Geib.
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21 December 2017 at 11:02 am #414739
Absolutely they will survive outside, many garden benches and tables use dovetail joints for strength or aesthetics.
However you will ideally want to choose your wood carefully, even if painting it: cedar, teak, iroko, black walnut, oak or alternatively marine ply would all be good at withstanding the conditions with a light oiling. Or tanalised softwood is fairly long lasting too.22 December 2017 at 7:30 am #415614Thank you, this is good news, and thanks for the tips! I’ll likely go with Titebond II, seems good for outdoors from it’s description and the reviews I’ve seen.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by ted clawton.
22 December 2017 at 9:59 am #415657If you can live with the slightly longer setup time and small price difference, I’d really go for Titebond III, as it’s significantly better in wet conditions.
However if you already had Titebond II on the shelf and used it you’d probably be OK too.2 January 2018 at 5:45 am #426002@nicknw thank you. I got Titebond III. Also, if anyone’s interested, maybe for food-contact projects, of the 3 Titebond versions, both the original and III have clean Safety Data Sheets, II has 1 ingredient the others don’t have, and that seems to make it slightly more hazardous.
2 January 2018 at 7:55 pm #426504I was just going off the SDS’s from one of the big box stores, but they each have Franklin Int’l headers. The SDS for Titebond II lists “aluminium chloride, anhydrous” as the only hazardous ingredient — which, from the rest of the SDS, doesn’t seem to be nearly as nasty as others I’ve seen, e.g. in finishes — whereas the SDS for Titebond Original and Titebond III list no hazardous ingredients.
(p.s. I tried twice to make this post, both didn’t go through, removed links to SDSs in hopes this posts)
21 February 2018 at 4:43 am #478523I built a large dovetailed box to keep my drills and everything that goes with them for work. Working construction this box gets very highly abused, I have to admit. In the heat, in the cold, in the rain, ALWAYS outside and in the back of the truck getting banged around and carried all over the place. This thing is a champ. The guys sit on it, stand on it as a stool. I put it together with Titebond III and it is still going strong after a year with no signs of any of the joints coming apart. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on how strong it is. I say go for it, it worked for me. Kevin
27 February 2018 at 7:05 am #485697Very cool, @kevinjames, thanks for sharing, that’s good to hear. And congrats on your nice box 🙂
- This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by ted clawton.
10 March 2018 at 11:43 am #494423One thing to note about tightbond 2 is people have had trouble with glue creep. Under some conditions like heat the glue can plastisisise and wooden parts have been known to move. I’ve heard stories from luthiers finding guitar parts coming apart with this type of glue, just one of the reasons they use Hyde glue.
Now I haven’t heard of any problems with titebond 3, as one of the fellows above mentioned that he used that for a toolbox and had no problems in all kinds of weather.
I guess someone could start a new topic about glues! Each type has its purpose and uses.18 April 2018 at 1:50 am #528141I’ve had best results with TiteBond 3, (the green label.) I have seveal projects that have been outside in humid, wet Florida for 5-6 years, still look great. I use Helmsman’s Spar Urethane on everything. If you want severe duty, brush on 4-5 coats, don’t spray.
20 April 2018 at 4:53 am #529758Classic yachts have dovetailed joints on deck all the time. They withstand the ocean beating on them, your mailbox should be fine if you choose the right materials.
22 April 2018 at 4:52 am #530976That should show you what I was thinking of. That’s a pretty simple straightforward hatch though. Some can be incredibly complex and beautiful. WAY beyond my skillets. Not sure I could manage a simple butterfly hatch like that one at this point but I’ll get there. I’m building a boat so I’ll need to right?
Cheers,
Daniel -
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