Nice, how different does it sound to a modern one?

I loath getting on my high horse, but don’t take things from forests unless they are explicitly there for the taking or you have permission from someone. The odd small item here and there may not seem significant but if everybody did it it would have a significant impact.

I don’t want to be preachy but I’d like to take this opportunity to draw everyone’s attention to the sustainability of rare hardwoods.

I could talk at length about the socioeconomic impact of rare hardwoods as well as the environmental impact, but to keep it short, the wood database has a good article on the sustainability of darkwoods.

https://www.wood-database.com/ebony-dark-outlook-dark-woods/

Another useful method is drilling out the hole and filling it with matchsticks and wood glue. Let it dry, cut it flat and rescrew the hole. It takes a while longer to dry but I think it might be more secure than hot glue.

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.