Reply by John Smith

Gabe, do you have access to Cypress lumber ??
a few coats of Epifanes or Pettit Marine Spar varnish will allow
the wood to carry its natural amber color.
but – is pretty time consuming for the first batch.
solution: you could make one quick set with pine in the 4 days you have
allotted for the project and work on the replacement cypress frames
with several coats of Spar at your leisure for the next project.
will last much, much longer than construction grade SYP. (and look better).

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-- there is no educational alternative to having a front row seat in the School of Hard Knocks. --