Sanity check finish for eastern red cedar bowls

[Justin Stephen]

I have a few sanded red cedar bowls that I want to finally get around to finishing, one as a gift, none for food use more strenuous than holding fruit or something like that.

I was leaning towards dewaxed shellac followed by several coats of WOP (like the look of some of Bill Bolen's cedar HFs). Am I overlooking any "gotchas" with this finish idea?

This would also be the first time I have used WOP on a bowl.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

[Roger Chandler]

Justin,

Your plan for dewaxed shellac and WOP is valid. They use shellac in the medications [pills] that we take, and WOP is food safe when it is FULLY cured. The shellac will pop the grain nicely as well. You need to get the oils off the cedar with acetone or naphta/minieral spirits for the finish to adhere well.

[Justin Stephen]

Thanks for the reply, Roger.

A couple of these bowls have been sitting done (except for finish) in my garage for at least six months. Do you think oil would still be a problem after sitting that long?
I'm still going to mineral spirit them, just curious.

[Roger Chandler]

You should wipe off the oils anyway.........the finish will take better for you!

[Justin Stephen]

You should wipe off the oils anyway.........the finish will take better for you!

What other common woods would this advice apply to?

[Roger Chandler]

The other ones I am aware of are some of the oily exotics from South America, however, I don't know them by name.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I would give it a rub down with 0000 steel wool and then finish. I had a couple of pieces of cedar I had forgotten about that sat for about a 1 1/2 yrs. I did the steel wool and finished with antique oil. Came out just fine.

[David E Keller]

What other common woods would this advice apply to?

Anything in the rosewood family and camphor come to mind.