Red Cedar - Finishing Questions

[Howard Rosenberg]

Hi all -
I've never used red cedar before.
Although I've not settled on a finish (clear, stain etc) yet, does it behave like pine or cherry?
Does it splotch?
Is the end grain a problem?
Am I better off with a surface rather than penetrating finish?
It's a picnic table that'll be outside in Toronto all year, so all thoughts and opinions are welcome.
Thank you. Howard

[Todd Burch]

Howard, you would probably be better off with a stain and no top coat. Cedar REALLY sucks up the finish, and it gets QUITE expensive to put enough coats on to seal it. Then, it doesn't last. So, check with ICI or Sherwin Williams for a top-of-the-line exterior stain. Sikkens is a good brand too.

By the way, Howard - you still smoke-free? (yes... tell me yes...)

[Dave Bartley]

I am just finishing up two trestle tables that will be a knock down version of picnic tables. For the finish on mine, I decided to use a fiberglass resin. Cedar being a very soft wood, I wanted to give it some protection from the more "casual" care that a picnic table gets.

The top has a build up of about 1/8th of an inch of resin, the rest has 3 good heavy coats. I have done all sides of the table, legs ansd stretcher to help keep the wood movement to a minimum, The benchs are made the same way as the table and were treated the same way.

[Bob Smalser]

WRC for boatbuilders is the specialty of my sawmill operation.

Very stable wood...so stable that brittle polyester resin will probably hold up in interior use....and with q-sawn stock with half the seasonal movement of flatsawn stock, would probably (probably) hold up in exterior use.

But the preferred exterior finish these days is a thinned epoxy called CPES..available from:

Smith & Co.
5100 Channel Avenue
Richmond, CA 94801
(510) 237-6842

You can do something similar by thinning any boatbuilder's epoxy with acetone and brushing it on.

Otherwise, a thick sanding sealer followed by a clear finish will work for interior wood...for exterior wood I would stain it using a modern oil stain for decks or just leave it raw. Tung oil is too expensive and linseed oil mixtures will turn black in short order.

[Frank Pellow]

For cedar furniture to be used outdoors, I highly recommend the stains available from Sikens. They are very expensive, but well worth it. About 6 years ago, while I was living in Seattle, I built a deck and some furniture for friends, and finished everything with Sikens. Everything looked beautiful then and still looks beautiful today. I will see if I can dig out an old non-digital picture and scan it in. If sucessful, I will post a follow-up reply on this thread.

Sikens stain can be purchased in the Toronto area at any Rona outlet.

[Lynn Sonier]

Bob's suggestion of the thinned epoxy is a good one; however, it is not resistant to UV and would need a coat or two of spar varnish to protect it from the sunlight (when its not under snow, that is!).
Lynn

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I concur on the exterior stain ideas. Traditional stain and marine-poly topcoat will be more hassle than it's worth.