Thread: Cracks in Irondbark Poles

I'm not an expert on bare poles. It looks like the sapwood is still there and it will differ from the heartwood. A really penetrating marine oil like Deks Olje might serve best. Easy to re-coat. The no. 2 gives a gloss finish. Make sure you have plenty of airflow as the fumes are nasty. Good luck.

Those cracks are just the nature of the timber. Nothing will ever get in there and eat it. Its just too hard. Filling them will just be a waste of time as the fill will eventually fall out. Unless you are going to paint them and then a nice thick oil-based paint would do the job. Ditto with a heavy oil (80% oil 20% thinner) as a lot of it will go into the cracks and partially seal them up. However you must still rub back the oil, bag it off when it is still wet or you will get an icky surface. In a way its a pity you didn't leave them unsanded as the weathered surface goes a very nice dark grey with a coat of oil.

Thanks Len and Xanthorrhoeas.

I do prefer the look of them sanded even though it is a very time consuming job. Because of the hardness of the timber they end up very smooth and tactile. More so than if I left them as is and just oiled them. I'm just after an oil that will preserve the colour. I'm not worried about preserving the timber per se. The engineer reckons the bit in the ground will last at least 50 years so I'm sure the bit above ground will be fine.

What do you think about a decking oil? I checked out Deks Olje thanks X and have no doubt it would do the job but it is very expensive. The posts will get minimal weather being under a verandah and with a 600mm eave.

My concern about filling the cracks was more to do with the bigger crack in the bottom of the pole. I'm not concerned about the surface cracks.

Regards

Rickey

G'day Ricky, Nice poles and i like your plan for them.

I recently put Red Palau hardwood slats around the house from the ground up to floor level.
I finished them with Cabots Aquadeck. It is a good product and given that your posts will be
somewhat protected, it should last well.

No matter what finish you use you will never end up with the same tactile sensation you have
with the newly sanded posts.

Thanks Artme, I had thought of using Aquadeck. We use the 'Natural' finish on our hardwood deck but it does make the timber go a bit orange. Might have a play with an off-cut of the pole and see what it looks like. I'm thinking a bit of oil on the post and a quick going over with a scotchbrite pad to smooth them up again. Will see how we go.

Rickey

I'm now thinking I might just let them go grey again. I like the smoothness of them and they needed cleaning up with the sander so it needed to be done.

Anyone see any problems in just letting them weather naturally?

Rickey

Rather than sanding try using a wire brush on an angle grinder.
It needs to be used lightly and along the grain but it leaves a more natural finish than a sander and gets into the dips and cracks better than a sander.
That's how I do all my wained edges.

Thanks Bob - bit late though. Might try it with the next house.

I understand where you are coming from and with rougher logs I would definitely go that way. These ironbark logs are basically smooth already so all I doing is getting rid of the dirt and the paint from the hire trailer. As I said in my previous post I reckon I will let them go gray again for a more natural look.

Rickey