Cedar

[Rich Aldrich]

I found a cedar tree (probably red cedear) that was uprooted. It is not laying on the ground yet, but I dont know when it blew down. The last time I was on this old road was last fall bird hunting and it wasn't down then.

Someone cut a section out of it - probably for a post. They left the bottom 16 ft or so still attached to the stump.

Do you think this would be good for turning?

[George Guadiane]

Lots of us like red cedar, Spanish cedar, CEDAR. The white cedar smell is a lot like pickles to me. Spanish smells like old wooden cigar boxes.
It's a little on the soft side, but you can get some real beauty out of any of it.

My cousin is holding a 30 inch log of red cedar in Florida for me (can't go till January), I can hardly wait to get some on the lathe.

[Robert Arrowood]

Ceder is great to turn it's just a little soft.Go for it. If nothing else it will make you shop smell good.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Rich - I have turned some of our local White Cedar. The grain can be fairly blank and it doesn't have a lot of smell to it. As mentioned - it is a soft wood, so make sure your tools are sharp and when finished - always take light cuts.

Looking forward to the photos of what you turn out of it!

[Fred Perreault]

Red Cedar.... or otherwise known as cedarper because it really a juniper... is fun to turn, has great color, but can crack on a whim. The knots can split open while turning, and the wood is kinda soft so sanding requires soft hands. But proper care can resolve some of these issues, and where I live it is a very popular finished product. I like to work wth it, but it can be frustrating.
I have been fortunate to find an occasional cedarper that was dead, or dying, that had to come down. It is very forgiving in a dry, or semi-dry state. No cracking, and great color. The rest of the cedars around here are of the "lowland" variety, and offer little to no excitement.
The best way to answer the "how does it turn?" question is to try it. Trees grow differently in different regions of the country, and experimenting is the best answer to the question. Cut it, prep it and turn it. If you don't like it, the kids can have the best looking firewood in town.

[Robert Arrowood]

Like Fred said use a soft hand when sanding.I keep forgeting and it cracks from the heat of sanding.

[alex carey]

Get it, if you can get the stump I would, it can have some pretty awesome grain.

[Karl Card]

I love turning cedar, as far as eastern cedar goes anyway. I do have some of the old pencil cedar that is used to make pencils many years ago, spanish cedar which i think is what they used to make or line humidors.

But anyway I turned a cedar pen that was a part of a burl or looked like what a burl would look like on other trees, I dont know if all wood burls or not.. but most any of the red cedar looks great with copper hardware on a pen...

[Bernie Weishapl]

Rich I would get it all. I love turning cedar. I have made bowls, vases, pens, lidded boxes, etc. The best thing is it sure makes the shop smell gooooood.

[James Combs]

Easy turning but like has been said above expect cracks and chip-outs. Really do love the smell of eastern aromatic cedar.

[Chris Hayes]

The only warning I can give on cedar, of any sort, is to wear a respirator that filters extremely fine particulates when sanding. I've heard from more any one instructor the horrors of what Cedar can do in a set of lungs. Because of it's rot resistance and some of the compounds the tree generates to give it this resistance, once in the lungs it's almost as bad -if not worse than- tropical exotics. Namely because people think its safe due to Cedar being a domestic.

Just my .02$ worth...

[Rich Aldrich]

Thanks for the help, guys. I think Steve is right that it is white cedar. It is in a swamp, so it might not have much character, but then again, it might surprise. I can get the stump since it up rooted. I plan to go get it this afternoon.

I have a resparator, but it isnt anything fancy, but you cant smell wood while using it.

[alex carey]

If this is the stuff it can definitely have a lot of character.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=125308&d=1250221269

[Matt Hutchinson]

Yeah, it's good stuff. Definitely get it.

Now here's a fun fact:

Did you know that Spanish Cedar isn't a cedar at all? It's actually in the mahogany family.

Hutch

[Michelle Rich]

I have seen some great turnings lately of the red cedar..what I have seen used the red/cream areas to their best advantage, and they truly looked terrific. I'd say, get the whole tree and have fun!

[Tim Rinehart]

I agree about the stump of red cedar!! What beautiful figure I have in a small piece someone gave me...hmmm...thinking SMC Art Challenge entry perhaps....

The comments about cracking are right on, so be very careful not to oversand the piece to try too thin of a wall, or allow too much variation in thicknesses while drying (if wet).

[Justin Stephen]

I have basically learned to turn bowls on cedar since that was the first turn-worthy tree I had access to when I got my lathe a couple of months ago. I have had some issues with cracking but several bowls have come out crack-free.

I have been able to get nice sanded surfaces on the outsides and inside bottoms of the bowls but I get some amount of deep scratching and pitting on the endgrain inside of the bowls even when I hand sanded and I was never able to get these marks completely out.

If you DNA soak, the wood will turn your DNA very red indeed.