Does anyone turn red cedar?

[Eugene Wigley]

I found four red cedar logs behind my shop that I forgot I had. They were cut about three years ago. They are 8" to 11" in diameter. Would they be any good for turning?

Thanks in advance.

[John Fricke]

Hey Eugene,
I turned these tea candle holders from some red cedar I bought on the bay. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=111284

turns easy and is pretty. Be careful when sanding to not get it warm. Heat seems to cause stress cracks in cedar.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I turn a lot of Cedar. Like John said heat is the enemy so sanding lightly and keep it moving. I have made everything from bowls to birdhouses with it. Not only that the shop smells great after turning.

[Mat Ashton]

It has potential, you just have to make sure the shape desired is compatible with the wood.

Cedar has a very soft summer wood and because the summer rings are usually much wider then the winter wood rings you can't get too fine with the detail. Very easy to exploit this if your intent is to give a lot of contrast between the two...

If you don't plan to exploit the difference in hardness then you'll need to make sure your sand paper has a fairly stiff backing so that it can ride over the softwood and not dig it out and use very light pressure. You'll find you'll never get much of a fine finish on it either but you'll still need to go to a fairly fine grit because the scratches are quite noticeable in the softwood. Water has been a good way for me to find the scratches. Because the wood tears so easily the scratches tend to stand out quite a bit when the surface is wet.

If you're like most you'll find red cedar is quite an irritant to the respiratory system so a respirator is almost an necessity.

With respect to a finish you'll find it absorbs pretty much any finish like a sponge. Your sealer coat will need to be something that dries extremely quickly to counter the fast absorption. I've found a danish oil is not bad - you just have to keep applying new coats over a fairly long time. Just need to let the first few soaking coats dry before adding anymore. Just make sure you wipe off the excess over time as you don't want the oil to dry as beads on the surface.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I've turned some candle holders out of red cedar 4x4 posts. Used Watco 'Natural' Danish Oil to darken up the color - then applied Minwax gloss poly. Takes a while to build a finish - but it can be done.

[Cody Colston]

Since you're in North Carolina, I assume you are talking about Eastern Red Cedar, aka Aromatic Cedar. I've turned lots of it, bowls, hollow forms, vases, etc. As has already been noted, it will crack if too much heat is generated during sanding and sometimes it will crack just because you look at it wrong. :D

I like to finish it with BLO first which helps to preserve the color. It can be Beall buffed to a soft shine or finished to a gloss with W.O. poly, lacquer or shellac.

It is soft but surprisingly, it also seems to dull my gouge quickly.

Here's a couple of Cedar pieces I've done.

[Brian McInturff]

Cody is right. Sometimes it will crack on you while you are turning. I believe those cracks are from what is called the "shakes". This occurs from trees that are put under severe stress during storms, basically whipping about violently without snapping off. I'd recommend you turn a little and stop, wait a few minutes and turn some more. Do this a few times on the piece and watch for any cracks or splits to appear. If they don't then you should be in good shape. I've been told Eastern Cedar is notorious for the Shakes.

[Burt Alcantara]

Cody,
Those are some beautiful turnings you got there. Thanks for that tip about BLO. I have a couple of turnings waiting for a finish. One I did with Waterlox. Came out OK. Will try one with the BLO.

My cedar has more CA then wood at this point.

[Tom Lewis]

Sorry to be dumb, but what is BLO?

[Cody Colston]

BLO = Boiled Linseed Oil

[Mark Norman]

Nice work Cody.

Red cedar can be a beautifull wood when finished well. I can harvest as much western red cedar as I want not far from my home and plan to do just that when the need arises.

Good info in this post.

[Burt Alcantara]

Cody,
How did you hollow the top of the enclosed form? After seeing that beautiful piece I tried one myself. Got the outside OK but the inside is a mess.

[Eugene Wigley]

Thanks for the info. I will try some small bowls with the cedar. Hope I can keep it from cracking.