Working with Cedar

[Rob Luter]

Any tips for hand tool working with Cedar? I have some beautiful 1/4 sawn cedar with a wonderful mahogany color. It came from of all things a 2 x 4. I re-sawed it into nice 1/2" thick slabs and planned on using it for a small box. The stuff is so soft and fluffy it's tough to get chisels to cut properly. The wood just compresses and tears, even with razor sharp chisels and super fine cuts. Dovetails are out of the question. Plus, just giving it a stern look mars the surface.

Thoughts?

[Joe A Faulkner]

I made my tool cabinet carcass out of cedar. The experience was humbling. It felt like paring straw and the edges bruised very easily. I settled for or accepted the quality in part because it is a shop piece, and one of my first hand cut dovetail projects. I frequently repeat your “sharp solves all kinds of problems” slogan to my self when working with edge tools. I will be interested to hear what others say, but because the wood is so soft, you may want to pay particular attention to any rough spots on your bench top. It would be very easy to mar your pieces by transferring minor bench top dinged to the surface of the cedar. I sometimes grab a piece of sacrificial masonite when I am chopping dovetails. Also be careful about wood chips working under your piece as they can also dent and scratch the piece as you work it. I sometimes use a towel to protect the piece as well. Looking forward to other suggestions to you post.

[Reed Gray]

I have heard that the incense cedar is hard enough that you can make some things out of it. I look at the western red cedar as being very much like redwood. If you just look at it wrong, it dents.

robo hippy

[Rob Luter]

I have heard that the incense cedar is hard enough that you can make some things out of it. I look at the western red cedar as being very much like redwood. If you just look at it wrong, it dents.

robo hippy

I agree. Aromatic cedar works very nice with hand tools. I’ve used it to line boxes very successfully. Western red is OK as long as there’s no fine detail. I made this BBQ cart with scraps from my deck build. It was more like carpentry than woodworking.

[Mel Fulks]

Aromatic cedar is for good scents ….while the smell of Western cedar can make some incensed.

[Daniel Culotta]

I don’t have much more to offer other than I did the same thing. Leftovers from a fence project that resawed nicely and that I made into a small outdoor side table with. M&T joints came out fine by paring the shoulders with a sharp chisel. Some of the other exposed spots that I pared, and an exposed half lap I just had to settle for being a little rougher than usual.

The top picked up some dings during the build, but I steamed it out with an iron right before sanding and it came out smooth. So as long as the damage isn’t too bad steam can be a fix. But yeah, saw cuts and chopping in wood that soft don’t really mix, at least not for me. Good luck!

[James Pallas]

I have worked with cedar rarely. Allergies to it. Eastern red is considerably harder than other species. Zona saws work better than others. Very sharp chisels with low angles, less than 20*, work ok. Rocking into the cut instead of plunging helps too. Things like Exacto tools help some. I like to use cutting mats when working with wood like that.
Jim

[Tom Bain]

One thing to watch out for with cedar (especially 2x4 stock) is that it isn’t typically dried to the same moisture content standard as hardwood. I made an arbor from western red cedar 2x stock a number of years ago and the wood movement during construction was a real challenge.

[Cameron Wood]

I hear you. I just made a little rack to hold sharpening stones from some scrap cedar. Chopping the mortises was not pretty.

It planes beautifully, and saws fine, but you need a shearing cut across the grain.

[Rob Luter]

One thing to watch out for with cedar (especially 2x4 stock) is that it isn’t typically dried to the same moisture content standard as hardwood. I made an arbor from western red cedar 2x stock a number of years ago and the wood movement during construction was a real challenge.

This wood has been in my basement shop since 2007. It was left by the previous owner so I'm pretty sure it's dry.

I managed to go to school on the stuff and some changes in technique improved things. First of all, dovetails went out the window. I decided on hand cut box joints. Instead of using a fret saw to remove the waste, I used the Chris Becksvoort method of a light tap on the knife line and lifting the chip from the end. Like is shown on the attached at about 7:03. He follows up with some stronger back cuts but I kept it gentle so the fibers would cut and not crush. I'll have to try this on some more forgiving wood too. Once I get all the fabrication work done I'll borrow Momma's steam iron and try to pull the dents out prior to assembly.

[Stan Calow]

Eastern (aka Aromatic) red cedar is actually a juniper, so it's a different species from WRC. We see a lot of rustic furniture made from ERC which is considered an invasive species around here. Both are too splintery for me to enjoy.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

My Guitar Mentor made a guitar with an Eastern Red Cedar top. I keep hoping he will put a demo on the web. It's a remarkable guitar. Western Red is often used for instruments. Nice old growth is very different than the 2x4's at the lumberyard.

[Rob Luter]

While this piece was resawn from a 2X4, it's not typical lumberyard grade. The previous homeowner had used it as framing for a crude workbench in the basement. When I was tearing it apart to build something decent I was amazed what I found. They are perfectly quarter sawn with the grain 90° to the face. The growth rings are very tight too. I just wish I had more. Phone photo below.

[James Pallas]

It is very possible that you have some of the highest grade cedar available. VGC, vertical grain cedar. It’s just like VGDF, vertical grain douglas fir and other species. Sold as VG, vertical grain, as opposed to QS in most hardwoods. Sometimes referred to as scaffold plank in the industry. Hard to find in most cases. VGDF is some very Nice material if you find it.
Jim

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Yes! That's the stuff! Nice image! 32 to 64 growth rings per inch or more.