About Spanish Cedar...

[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.