Dawn redwood tree

[timh]

  we cutt down 7 large dawn redwood trees last week
has anyone saw them up?
i think there cousin of redwoods
  any use for wood it seems very brittle and soft
when grinding stumps it was like butter
  would wood be good for siding, fence pickets or would they be for outside use
since there related to redwoods

[metalspinner]

I cut one up a couple of years ago.  Yes, it is very soft and light.  When handling air dried boards, they feel like ridgid foam insulation.  These were sawn at 5/4, too.

I used a little bit for shed siding and it's holding up OK, but it's only been on a couple of years.  I used lots of it in woodworking projects for scouting activities - lantern boxes, flower boxes, etc. It's easy to nail and cut for the boys.

I would not consider it a structural wood.  It would need to be way over sized for that.  Even then I wouldn't trust it.

Long term outdoor weathering properties I'm not sure about... ???

[taschmidretired]

  Large Sequoia / brittle.  Coastal Red wood/ not as much. Dawn Redwood/ Sequoia.  http://home.hiwaay.net/~redwood/rwmyths.html

[backwoods sawyer]

My favorite wood for milling.... It cuts like butter, and can be used for all sorts of outdoor project, just treat it as if it were cedar. 8)

[beenthere]

backwoods
Are you talking Dawn redwood, or redwood?

[backwoods sawyer]

The county extension service calls it dawn redwood, it was brought into the area by local nurseries back in the 60's.

[metalspinner]

Here's a discussion we had a while back about the Dawn Redwood...

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,19182.0.html