Anyone ever turn Cedar??

[Donny Lawson]

I've got alot of cedar and I think it would make a great bowl but is it too soft?
Donny

[Allen Neighbors]

Cedar makes beautiful turnings. It's very soft, requiring very sharp tools, and good technique to keep from getting tearout. It cracks very easily when sanding if too much heat is caused by the friction (even when cutting on a very thin piece). Be careful, and go for it. Beautiful stuff.
Also, sanding requires an easy touch, and sometimes to even finer grits than 400 to get the sanding marks out. Somehow sanding marks are easier to spot on cedar.

[Fred Perreault]

I look for red cedar all the time. It is fun to turn, has great looking grain, and makes the shop stink nice. Around here the red cedar has a very furrowed outer bark, and they don't grow to a very large size (8"-16"). But they make attractive turnings, and are usually the first to sell from my selection.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Donny - I've turned all sorts of stuff out of Cedar and it can be some beautiful wood. It is very soft though and dents/mars quite easily. As others have mentioned - sharp tools and a light touch is your best best for a clean turning.

Looking forward to seeing what you turn out of it!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Donny cedar is a wonderful wood to turn. As was said sharp tools and light sanding as sanding heat will make it crack for sure.

[Baxter Smith]

What kind of cedar do you have? I picked up a piece of Norhtern white cedar at Christmas time. Have not turned it yet! Have used it for paneling my stairwell, master bath, and the siding on my house. Pretty stuff. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

[alex carey]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=114309

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=118275

These are eastern white cedar.

like others have said, super sharp tool and slow sanding.

Very strong smell, I personally love it but there are people out there who can't stand it, it never fully goes away but after a few weeks the whole house won't smell like it.

[Jeff Rich]

Cedar will turn wonderfully with sharp tools as everyone has said above.
My GF and I used to turn a lot of Eastern Red Cedar but our supply has dwindled.
Cedar makes excellent boxes but is very brittle. We have also turned a few birdhouse from it as well.
And the scent keeps the bugs away...to an extent.

[Hilel Salomon]

Let me add my vote for cedar. It can be turned wet and doesn't warp much. Mistakes can be sanded out; it smells great, looks great and finishes great. Otherwise it just ok. ....lol.
Luck, Hilel.

[Mike Minto]

I was unsure about turning cedar (eastern aromatic, anyways) until I did. It makes very nice vases. A few folks here have posted some nice pieces here, in particular Bill Bolen - IMO, the master of turning Eastern Red Cedar.

[Rick Huelsbeck]

I've got a bunch of the stuff and here is some work I did with it.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=121988

[Quinn McCarthy]

Seeing as cedar has such a low moisture content. Does everybody still use DNA for drying on the cedar bowls or do you just turn them as they are.

I am surrounded here by millions of acres of northern white cedar. I even have some pieces in the turning pile but never tried turning one yet.

Quinn

[alex carey]

I've never used DNA for it, never had it to, it doesn't warp at all.

[Donny Lawson]

Baxter,
I have all Aromatic Cedar.It smells great and turns easily.I made a few pens from it and they turned out very nice.
Donny

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks Donny. We have a few in the woods here but only pen turning size.:)

[GLENN THOMAS]

The cedar Ive turned was really dry and its texture, the weight, and sound of it reminded me of piece of charcoal pulled from a fire pit after the fire had cooled. It cut really good with sharp tools but be carefull when you sand it, not only will it crack but it is also easy over sand and change the shape of your piece. As the cedar ages it will turn to more of a brown color and the smell will almost completely go away. My wife always tell me I smell like a giant gerble when I turn cedar but I like the way my garage smells with I pile of cedar shavings.

GT

[Thomas Canfield]

The red cedar in Texas with the white sapwood makes pretty turnings. Some is much darker than others. The picture shows a bowl for LOML that is about 11" dia and 4" H with about 3/8+ thick due to the exterior crevices found in cedar. Behind it is a platter that I think was about 10" diameter aotnd 1 1/2" high that has a very thin bottom abain because of crevice and natural surface. The dark piece has 4 coats of poly/danish oil mix and tripoli buff finish and the other piece was only buffed in the picture. Cedar is soft and needs some hardening to get a high finish, but it does have eye appeal. The dust can cause allergy problem so a mask is essential as minimuem. There are a some that can note even be in a large room with someone else turning, not even sanding, cedar.