Mini wood gloat, questions about juniper / cedar

[Doug Herzberg]

Found myself in Denver with an empty trailer and spotted three pieces of something in someone's front yard. The man who answered the door said I could have them and said they were from a juniper, like the others in the yard. As he spoke, he was pointing at a mature Colorado Blue Spruce. It looks like juniper on the outside, but it's big. It had some minor checking, so I cut off the ends and sealed it. The fresh cut wood looks and smells like what we call aromatic cedar around here. I think it is also called eastern red cedar. The heartwood is red, almost purple. I searched some old threads and learned that juniper can be turned, but it tends to crack.
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My questions are: 1. Is there any way to keep that beautiful red/purple color? In my flat work with cedar, it has gone a little brown with the finish and it seems to get darker and more brown with age. Is it UV exposure, oxidation or both? 2. If I try to leave the inside of a box unfinished to keep the scent, do I increase the risk of cracks? Would an oil finish keep the scent and protect the wood? Thanks for your help.

[Tom Wilson66]

Eastern red cedar is a member of the juniper family, and is not really a cedar. I have never had any contact with Juniper that I know of, but would say it has many of the same characteristics of ERC. The color of ERC is bright red to begin with, then turns to a brownish color over time, no matter how it is finished (quess it would stay bright red under opaque finishes, but then you can't see it:rolleyes:). I would assume juniper would be the same. ERC is a good turning wood, but don't know about juniper, try it and let us know. As far as the odor, any finish will reduce the smell, with a "hard" finish sealing it in completely, and without any finish the oils that produce the odor will evaporate over time. They can be restored by sanding or other wise exposing the interior layers of wood:). Then the odor will start fading again:(.

[Doug Herzberg]

Thanks, Tom. I plan to give it a spin, but I won't be able to get to it for a few weeks. I hope I'll have something to post.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Congrats on the wood Doug! Sure looks promising! Haven't turned any Juniper but the White Cedar that we have around here is easy to turn and takes dye really well. Have fun with it! Looking forward to seeing what you create!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Doug that sure looks like cedar to me. When I rough it out I always coat the whole turning with anchorseal. I have had good luck doing that. I also got some blue spruce from my neighbor when his 82 ft blue spruce blew over in a high wind storm. I cut the pith out and sealed the ends. I forgot about it for about 3 yrs or more. It was dry and turned nicely. It is extremely light in weight when finished. Sanded and finished nicely.

[Al Wasser]

Doug, for info, nearly all of the juniper landscape trees up and sown the front range are a hybrid of Rocky Mtn. juniper. Rocky Mtn and Easter Red must be closely related but I'm not enough of a botanist to expand on that. In my experience, no matter what you do the smell will disappear in time and the red or purple color will turn to brown. Be careful when sanding because heat will cause the stuff to crack.

[John Spitters]

To me this most definitely looks to be Juniper, and not an Eastern red. If it is Juniper when turning the aroma will be quite pungent but a pleasant smell for most. Myself apparently I have an allergy to it. The first time that I turned this wood my lungs seized up and I thought I was not going to make it, within an hour or so my whole face had swollen to the size of an looked like a big pumpkin.
My advise would be to make sure you have good ventilation, dust control and definitely wear a face mask of some sort just in case you may have the same reaction as I did. Incidently I've never had a problem with any of the other cedars.

John

[Doug Herzberg]

Thanks for the advice. I'll wear some breathing protection. Bernie, I'll try sealing everything after rough turning.

[Fred Belknap]

Doug a friend gave me a piece of cedar about 10"x 36". He must of had it in the dry for quite a while as the moisture was around 12%. The wife wanted a bowl out of it so I made one side grain and one with the pith on center. It is real soft and cracks if you look at it cockeyed. I used a lot CA filling cracks and pouring in the bottom of the center turned hf. I don't like the dust, I don't get a severe reaction but it doesn't agree with me, maybe the smell.. Really pretty wood but doubt I will be turning any more any time soon. Good luck with yours.

[Doug Herzberg]

Fred,
This is so wet it soaked some paper it was sitting on overnight, but the unsealed cutoff still checked. I'm sensitive to some woods, but I haven't had any trouble with cedar. There's enough here to have some fun with and make my shop smell like a Colorado souvenir shop.

[Michael Menzli]

Hey Doug.. I live on a farm with about 30% coverage in Eastern Red Cedar. I can say judging by your pics this is def. Eastern Red Cedar...especially with the smell you noted which will fill the shop for a few days.. I love it. Ive found that sunlight tends to bring on the brown pretty quick. For most pieces I want to save I too cover in anchorseal and rough turn and anchorseal again. It does lose a little bit of the early vibrance but keeps the purple hues fairly well. I will say it dries pretty quick and most def. will crack on you. As far as leaving it unfinished I wouldnt think it would crack after it has acclimated and dried.

[Doug Herzberg]

Hey Doug.. I live on a farm with about 30% coverage in Eastern Red Cedar. I can say judging by your pics this is def. Eastern Red Cedar...especially with the smell you noted which will fill the shop for a few days.. I love it. Ive found that sunlight tends to bring on the brown pretty quick. For most pieces I want to save I too cover in anchorseal and rough turn and anchorseal again. It does lose a little bit of the early vibrance but keeps the purple hues fairly well. I will say it dries pretty quick and most def. will crack on you. As far as leaving it unfinished I wouldnt think it would crack after it has acclimated and dried.

I've kept it inside since I sealed the ends and the color is still there. I will definitely keep it sealed. There is enough wood to experiment a bit. The pith seems to be quite a bit off center, so there is a lot I can do to avoid it. I hope that will cut down on the cracks. Thanks for the advice.

[Michael Menzli]

I've kept it inside since I sealed the ends and the color is still there. I will definitely keep it sealed. There is enough wood to experiment a bit. The pith seems to be quite a bit off center, so there is a lot I can do to avoid it. I hope that will cut down on the cracks. Thanks for the advice.

This has been my experience quite a bit..off center pith...Ive got a crap ton of it..so if you have a future need shoot me a pm