About Spanish Cedar...

[Julie Moriarty]

Would Spanish cedar be appropriate for the top of an entertainment center where the TV and stereo equipment would sit? And maybe for bookshelves as part of the same units.

It's pretty limited here on decent priced hardwoods. My choices are 10/4 Spanish @ $5.55 bd/ft, 6/4 cherry @ $3.29 and 6/4 African ribbon mahogany at $4.89. We're trying to keep the woods light, thus the consideration of Spanish cedar.

Thanks,
Julie

[Peter Christensen]

Man do I wish I could get prices like that here. I’d pick the cherry.

[Barry Richardson]

Spanish Cedar is to soft in my opinion, I would go with one of the other 2.....

[Mike Cutler]

What is the span? You should be good out to 4 feet with no edge treatment.
If it were 10/4 sure. I think even 1" thick, not 4/4, would do it.
Old style tube, and CRT TV's , no way. Newer stuff is pretty light by comparison to the "old stuff". My hesitation would be is kids, or grand kids were to try to climb it.
Spanish cedar isn't a "strong" wood per se, but it's a little tougher than folks might give it credit for.

[Cary Falk]

I also say that Spanish cedar is too soft for my taste

[Phil Mueller]

I’m definitely a fan of cherry. As you probably know, no matter what you do, it will age to a nice caramel brown...not sure how light you want it to be. I have one cherry table with stripes of sapwood that lighten it up...but you have to like that look.

Gotta like the fact that you’re in the tail end of one project (guitar) and already thinking through the next!

[Tom M King]

Way too soft.

[Jim Becker]

I agree about the Spanish Cedar being softer than desired for this kind of application. I'm a cherry guy and at those prices, assuming it's not twisty-twisty wood, that would be my choice. But you say "light" and neither the cherry or the mahogany are going to come in as "light" in color and cherry gets darker with time. Traditional "light" wood would {SIC} be maple.

[Jeff Duncan]

Would Spanish cedar be appropriate for the top of an entertainment center where the TV and stereo equipment would sit? And maybe for bookshelves as part of the same units.

It's pretty limited here on decent priced hardwoods. My choices are 10/4 Spanish @ $5.55 bd/ft, 6/4 cherry @ $3.29 and 6/4 African ribbon mahogany at $4.89. We're trying to keep the woods light, thus the consideration of Spanish cedar.

Thanks,
Julie


Wow, thats really limited! Only three wood species to choose from? I would not consider any of them to be "light" woods. And indeed the Spanish is the softest of the group as well as being the only "softwood" of the group. From those three I'd likely go with the cherry if it fit into what I wanted. Or.... see if you can get something shipped? The cedar could work but being soft will likely be easily marred and something to keep in mind.

good luck,
JeffD

[Bryan Lisowski]

I know it's not the end all be all, but Spanish Cedar has a higher Janka rating than cherry, it also is a very durable wood. Spanish Cedar is actually part of the mahogany family. Last time I bought from a dealer that used to be near me always labeled mahagony.

[Tom M King]

What is sold as Spanish Cedar varies a lot more in density than it's spot on the Janka chart. I've seen some that is noticeably softer than Western Red Cedar, and that's mostly what's sold around here as "Spanish Cedar". I always expected that it was plantation grown in South America.

[Mike Wilkins]

Spanish Cedar in my humble opinion is too soft for a table top. If hardwoods are limited in your area, order from Wall Lumber in NC. I have received orders from them that are top quality. Or find a local Woodcraft; or ask around in the local big box stores for local hardwood suppliers.
A local cabinet shop could get material for you as well.

[phil harold]

Oh the smell of Spanish Cedar is enough to stop me from using it!!!

[Mike King]

Veneer would give you a lot more choice.

Mike

[Tim M Tuttle]

Spanish Cedar in my humble opinion is too soft for a table top. If hardwoods are limited in your area, order from Wall Lumber in NC. I have received orders from them that are top quality. Or find a local Woodcraft; or ask around in the local big box stores for local hardwood suppliers.
A local cabinet shop could get material for you as well.

Damn, those prices are almost good enough to pay the freight to KS.

[Doug Dawson]

Would Spanish cedar be appropriate for the top of an entertainment center where the TV and stereo equipment would sit? And maybe for bookshelves as part of the same units.

It's pretty limited here on decent priced hardwoods. My choices are 10/4 Spanish @ $5.55 bd/ft, 6/4 cherry @ $3.29 and 6/4 African ribbon mahogany at $4.89. We're trying to keep the woods light, thus the consideration of Spanish cedar.

Is this by any chance coming out the back door of a humidor or cigar box factory, rather than from a hardwood supplier?

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks for the replies. I've been tossing this around a lot but haven't been able to find the, "That's it!" feeling.

The wood I listed is from the supplier's list of what's on sale now. They have more but pretty much everything they have is limited in quantities.

I just ran a bunch of curly cherry through the planer thinking I'd use it was the face frame. I know it's going to get dark but I was hoping the figure would override any dislike of dark wood. Our floors are various shades of weathered grey planking, from almost white to black, and darken the room quite a bit. There's not a lot of really light planks in the mix.

Last time I was at the hardwood supplier they had some ambrosia maple for about $8 bd/ft. IIRC, the thickest they had was 6/4. I'm just not sure how the wormy pattern would look. If they have enough and we go that route the progress stops until Tuesday, the earliest we can both go.

Thanks again for the help. Decisions, decisions...

[William Hodge]

Spanish Cedar quality seems to have dropped in the past year. I have stopped using it. There would often be several species of wood in a lift of "Spanish Cedar". Also, Spanish Cedar dents easily. If you're building an entertainment center for a person that throws bottles at the screen when their team loses the World Cup, dents could result. I would go with Cherry, a domestic wood that was historically used in drinking establishments for just this reason.

[Tom Bender]

For a dining table, no but your entertainment equip is not going to change much and your books are just going to gather dust so the Cedar will hold up fine.

[Julie Moriarty]

Spanish Cedar quality seems to have dropped in the past year. I have stopped using it. There would often be several species of wood in a lift of "Spanish Cedar". Also, Spanish Cedar dents easily. If you're building an entertainment center for a person that throws bottles at the screen when their team loses the World Cup, dents could result. I would go with Cherry, a domestic wood that was historically used in drinking establishments for just this reason.

Maybe I could put chicken wire in front of it so the angry beer bottles don't wreck the wood, sorta like in The Blues Brothers.