Finishing cedar

[Tim Elett]

My first time at a lided box ,but how to finish with something to make grain pop and not mask the cedar smell. On this I sanded with 120 and buffed with a tack cloth. 510820

[Peter Blair]

I have done a little bit of Western Red Cedar and I found the only thing I could do is to apply my favourite finish to the outside and leave the inside unfinished to retain the smell BUT it did not retain the smell very long!

[Bill Howatt]

IMO, Pete has the right idea if you want to finish Anything is very likely to alter or seal-off the aroma. There are several species of cedar with varying aroma strength; the names are applied very loosely so you may have better or worse luck with maintaining aroma on the interior.

[Thomas Wilson80]

I don't have much experience turning cedar, but was given a 4" in diameter ERC branch a few years ago and made a few wands and small boxes from it. I finished the wands with bees wax and the smell came through faintly for a year or so but now is pretty much gone. For the boxes, I finished with Watco Danish oil and after it cured the cedar smell remained (still there after 4 years on the inside when opened) though it is slowly fading.

Tom