# Refinishing Reclaimed Cypress



## rph123 (Jun 1, 2014)

Hey

I'm a newbie looking for some suggestions. I'm having an old rough cut cypress fence replaced, and I would like to use the wood if possible. I was thinking of maybe making a table out of some of the extra wide pieces. Do you think this is something a newbie could do? I like the rustic look of the wood, but I know the wood would need some type of finishing/cleaning. I'm looking for suggestions on how to do this.

Thanks


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## jasonborthwick (Nov 29, 2013)

Rph123, Welcome to LJ's. It is amazing the information and advice you can find here on any subject and topic in woodworking. I believe pictures are better than words so attached are pictures of a cypress hall table I am currently working on. Cypress Is good for outdoor or indoor furniture due to its makeup. I suspect the moisture content will be very high so before milling you will want to check and air dry if needed. I was surprised at the movement cypress has once milled and because of that I ripped 3 in wide pieces to prevent cupping after the of the tabletop is finished. I stained and finished with a oil/thinner mix for a rustic look. I believe the stain brought out the hard and soft wood without blotching. To prevent blotching I used a pre-stain blotching control product made by Charles Neil. he is a great resource on here or you can learn a lot about finishing from his videos.

Good luck cypress is good to work with.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

How thick is the wood? It may be warped and require straightening and planing. It therefore may be difficult to preserve a lot of the rustic look. I would still go for it. Cypress is beautiful wood and as said great to work with. Do you have posts that can be legs?


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

Just remember that cypress is somewhat soft. It will dent easily, but will work well.
An oil/wax finish which is easily renewed will work well unless it will be exposed to heavy/hard use.
Bill


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## rph123 (Jun 1, 2014)

Thanks for the replies. Most of the pieces are 1" thick with the widest pieces 17" down to around 6". There are some 2×4s and 4×4s also, but the original ones are in worse condition. I'm not sure if they can be used or not. I took a few pics today. I took a couple of the smaller pieces and sprayed them with a power sprayer to see how it would turn out. I thought those pieces turned out pretty good. Does this look like cypress? I've just always been told it was cypress. Some of the pieces split when I was taking them down and the fresh wood looked kind of red. I didn't think cypress had a red tint like that. Like I said I'm a newbie, so I don't have alot of tools. I have a circular saw, jig saw, drill, and a orbit sander. Thats about all I have for power tools. I've thought about doing everything from a farm house style dining table to just a small outdoor table or bench. I have plenty of wood to practice on. The fence was just over 200 feet long.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

If it still has that good color, there's probably still some usable wood there. It's feasible that it's cypress. Where are you located? This is my cypress floor. Not a very good choice for a floor, but it is distressed and fits into the log cabin look. It darkens with age.


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## rph123 (Jun 1, 2014)

I sanded down one side and cut the ends off of on piece. The wood lightened up a good bit. I don't know much about wood, but it looks closer to the cypress I've seen before. I'm located in Mississippi.


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