red cedar as secondary wood

[Barry Bruner]

I was wondering if anyone has used red cedar as a secondary wood for inside framing and drawer sides ? I realize it will look a little different but I have some that I need to use. I would only use straight garin and avoid knots it would be used on a shaker sewing table. BARRY BRUNER

[John Eaton]

I've used reclaimed red cedar flooring for jewelry box drawer sides with simple finger-joints - I really like the look. Once planed there isn't much left for larger projects, but I try to use it when I can (still have about 20 or so feet of it left).

-- John

[Barry Bruner]

I have made a couple of Shaker sewing tables with some scrap mahogney and I bought poplar for the secondary and they turned out pretty good. I was going to cut out the red in the cedar board and see how it looks. I do wonder if the cedar has as much strength as the poplar. From what I have read it has very little shinkage and is pretty stable but wonder if it is stought enough and also do wonder about the wear for drawer runners. thanks John for your response. BARRY BRUNER

[Peter Quinn]

My experience with red cedar would suggest against using it for drawer runners or any secondary situation where strength or wear resistance is required. It is very soft, not very strong and doesn't hold screws well. It splits very easily which is why it is typically installed with splitless ring shank nails in exterior applications. It is difficult to mill with a router, most cuts must be climbed or you risk that long ropey grain pulling apart, and the dust gives me near asthmatic reactions. It is also quite beautiful. Perhaps there is a better use to which it might be put?

Poplar is a fine choice for secondary wood, as is maple, soft or hard. For drawer runners hard maple has the perfect combination of tight closed grain, wear resistance and strength even when cut very thin. When sanded with 220 grit and waxed, maple burnishes quite easily to a smooth surface that will make people wonder if your drawers ride on mechanical slides! For the amount needed in a single piece of furniture, I'd seriously consider sourcing some maple for the drawer runners, poplar for everything else secondary.

[Neal Clayton]

i've built return air vents and such with it. i can route small profiles in it ok, but for mortises and such, as peter said, i have to climb cut with a spiral bit, else it tears. was planning to try and build some windows with it, but i don't know if it'll survive the rail/stile bits, haven't gotten around to trying it yet.

and the above post about not holding screws/nails well is also correct. mortise/dovetail joints should be fine though, if you can cut them without tearing.

most people in the south use it for siding and decking, due to its natural weather resistance (it shrinks and expands little, if at all, due to moisture), and also as closet/drawer liner material. every antique store in the southern US has at least 3 old cedar lined storage chests for sale. they were made by the millions down here for people to store seasonal clothes in, due to bugs hating the wood for whatever reason.

[John Shuk]

Restoration Hardware bought a company that made mission style bedroom sets that used aromatic red cedar as drawers sides. The furniture was very nice and the company had been around awhile before being aquired. I think I'd get tired of the smell over time as much as I like it occasionally. It did seem very stable though.

[Lee Schierer]

I was wondering if anyone has used red cedar as a secondary wood for inside framing and drawer sides ? I realize it will look a little different but I have some that I need to use. I would only use straight garin and avoid knots it would be used on a shaker sewing table. BARRY BRUNER
Western Red Cedar would not work well as drawer slides and sides. Aromatic Red Cedar will work just fine in those applications. I've seen trays, drawers, boxes, wood turnings and chests made entirely with Aromatic Red Cedar.

[Barry Bruner]

Well, I was really on the fence about using it to start with, but Peter probably pushed me off the fence on the poplar side. I did not buy it, and it is far from my favorite wood, so I guess it can sit awhile until I come up with a better idea. Thanks for the input. BARRY BRUNER

[Tom Sontag]

I don't think eastern redcedar would be one of my top choices for drawer sides, but I could easily see it for solid wood drawer bottoms. It is probably the most stable domestic hardwood, so the movement of a larger bottom would become moot.

[Peter Quinn]

I assumed you were talking about Western Red when you posted about red cedar? I don't under stand its reputation as a 'stable' wood? That stuff moves like a dancer at a cha-cha contest! My two year old can sit still longer. I think red cedar is pretty bug resistant, that's about it.

There are guys locally that use Spanish cedar as a mahogany alternative for exterior millwork (garage doors and such), and a chest made of aromatic cedar or cedar of Lebanon would be lovely.

I've never seen eastern white used for other than fence posts and shakes.

[Barry Bruner]

[quote=Peter Quinn;920978]I assumed you were talking about Western Red when you posted about red cedar? I don't under stand its reputation as a 'stable' wood? That stuff moves like a dancer at a cha-cha contest! My two year old can sit still longer. I think red cedar is pretty bug resistant, that's about it.
I am not sure if it is the same as western red cedar, probably not. I have made a couple of blanket chests out of it and if you avoid the knots it seem pretty stable. The cedar around here has a lot of limbs and that makes a lot of knots. BARRY BRUNER

[Jim Finn]

every antique store in the southern US has at least 3 old cedar lined storage chests for sale. they were made by the millions down here for people to store seasonal clothes in, due to bugs hating the wood for whatever reason.[/quote]......Here is one I just finished using cedar. this one is 24" long.

[Neal Clayton]

......Here is one I just finished using cedar. this one is 24" long.

better not let my grandmother see those, she still uses em and is in the market for some new ones ;). she's complaining that the hinges don't work very well anymore (wonder why they're only ~85 years old).

[Jim Finn]

" she's complaining that the hinges don't work very well anymore (wonder why they're only ~85 years old).[/quote]".................I make the hinges on these of oak. Poplar and chestnut ones I have tried do not hold up well.

[Barry Bruner]

......Here is one I just finished using cedar. this one is 24" long.
I like your cedar chest well enough I put a picture of it in my file cabinet in my WANT TO MAKE FILE. I made 6 blanket chest one year and I did not think I would ever want to make another one. That is one good thing about being old ,you forget a lot. BARRY BRUNER