Cedar urn

[Chris Colman]

This was an experiment with turning cedar.

It is made of aromatic cedar. It is about 6 inches wide and 7 inches to top of the finial.

The bowl was easy, but cedar is tough to get sharp features on the finial. It keeps wanting to splinter and chip.

I love working with aromatic cedar, it smells so good. I left the inside of the bowl unfinished, so the cedar would still smell good.

[David E Keller]

Neat idea. Cedar would be a really tough wood for fine detail work because it's so soft

I love the smell of cedar... I can almost smell that piece from here.:D

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Chris the vessel is beautiful!! I love the form the segmented approach and the finish. I wonder if a different material with a bit more height used for the finial would have set it off better.(just a personal opinion) Overall a very definite "A".:)

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Chris, That is really nice! I've had some problems finishing cedar. What did you use? Were there any problems with gluing the segments; what did you use? I do the same thing with not finishing the inside to keep that nice cedar smell going.

[John Keeton]

I envy you guys with a sense of smell!! Well, most times!:D;)

Great work on the segmentation. I would have to agree on a contrasting wood for the finial, but I admire your willingness to try to get detail on the cedar - that would be challenging.

[Chris Colman]

I flooded on about 3 coats of Formby's Tung oil finish. First coat or two were really thirsty, especially end grain. Spray on Poly 2 coats of gloss.

I always use Titebond II for my segmented pieces. No adhesion problems with cedar, but you need to use plenty, because the wood soaks it up.

[James Combs]

Chris, That is really nice! I've had some problems finishing cedar. What did you use? Were there any problems with gluing the segments; what did you use? I do the same thing with not finishing the inside to keep that nice cedar smell going.

Ditto on what did you use. You have a great finish on a great looking vessel. I finished turning a cedar bowl today and have an initial coat of Danish Natural Oil on it but I am not sure what I will finish it with once that is dry. I was thinking maybe shaker can poly since I happen to have some. My last cedar bowl "Sails" was finished with CA but this one is much larger.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Nice bowl of Juniper Chris, though I don't care for the finial, just my hangup I suppose.
We do love the smell of the Juniper over here as well, all the shavings are hauled into the house and will give it's pleasant aroma for months afterward :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_virginiana

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks Chris; I'll give that a try. I've started using only shellac on cedar as I was having problems with other finishes not "curing" on it. Shellac always works for me.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Chris that is a beautiful piece. I agree with the finial with contrasting wood.

[Chris Colman]

The finial is rather crude and blocky. Hard to get fine detail with that cedar. (sorry, Juniper. Oh, well, one man's Osage Orange is another man's Hedge)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Pretty cool! Really nice joinery and I love the rich color! Thanks for sharing!