Eastern Red Cedar Heartwood Color Stain?

[kantuckid]

Have you used a stain that's a decent match for ERC heartwood? I don't usually do much with it and have found that sander dust mixed with glue goes through a color change to a dark brown thats ugly. I keep a neutral water based stainable filler around the shop but was thinking maybe there's something sold that's a good match? Looked on the web and nothing stands out so far or has a good color match review. Trying to use the remainder of some wood that has a historical/location  sort of connection buts got enough defects to make much given it's whats leftover. 

[firefighter ontheside]

Of stains that I've used, red mahogany is probably the closest I've seen to ERC heart.  Perhaps with some thinning and experimenting and maybe even some adding of other colors you would get what you're looking for.  What wood are you wanting to make to look like cedar.

[kantuckid]

Not trying to simulate red cedar- trying to fill defects in that very wood.

I know how to do inlays but looking for a lazy way. May try an colored art marker used on a stainable neutral latex filler. I really like the brown felt tip markers for walnut repairs but they're pricey to trial and error, thus this post. The sap wood I mostly cut off or tolerate to some degree but it's more like a pine repair. Honestly, I don't work in cedar much as it's not a favorite wood but this comes from a certain location of my Wifes, Dad's family.  

[doc henderson]

what kind of projects will you make with the wood.  could go with a contrasting or complimentary color of epoxy.  If the heartwood has a defect due to rot, it will stabilize the wood.  ant tunnels make things interesting.
one problem with ERC, is the color changes from purple red to brown over time and you fix may not follow that change.  might try using the saw dust with epoxy to make a paste.  it might mimic the color change over time.  

[kantuckid]

ERC color stays very stable depending on the finish used.  This same wood I made a jewelry box and a 5 drawer bedroom chest in the late 1970's with it. Still both bright red! They are in my 97 yr old MIL's house and come back to us soon FWIW, as she's now in hospice stage of Alzheimers. I'll give the jewelry box to a granddaughter, chest goes in our house. I have other cedar-maybe 300BF left from when I re-did my porches-floors, 6x6 posts and 4x4 railings couple years back. It will go into my cabin build as will much of my stashed lumber from a lifetime of woodworking. 
This particular project is a small pantry cabinet, dimensions ~6' tall ~ 12-14" deep x ~20-24" wide to use for storage in the cabin. It sort of matches the 4/4 cedar in this bunch of wood other than the 8/4 cedar. I sawed a huge cedar log into mostly live edged slabs from my porch logs project. it was by far the large log O bought from the guy who was clearing an old farm near the KY River in Estill CO, KY. slabs are over 24" wide. The 8/4 cedar will become legs on some of that slab wood.
I just completed a rocking horse for my AL grandson from a crummy couple of 8/4 pieces of this wood. That pattern is one I made for our oldest son and also sold at crafts shows too. I'll share it with anyone who's interested. it's simple, strong, compact but IMO a better design than many, many I looked at. Our son, his dad, said he already has a lamb he rides. Whaaaat?
 I told my wife I didn't want my Grandson riding a damned sheep!  :D 
 That has certain connotations from my KS farm yard days that I'll leave unsaid? ;D 
 
The story of this wood: I was visiting my FIL's family cemetery in rural Johnson Co., KY where my wife's from. The ridge is very remote and also where they used to have church homecomings on the grounds. It is high above what is now a Corps of Engrs lake called Paintsville Lake that flooded much of her families home areas back up hollers there abouts.  My FIL had been there prior and seen this other man who'd been quarreling about how the "cedar tree's were ruining his family plots tomb stones" and he wanted them gone and had already cut one nice one into chunks of short logs and rolled over the fence-same area where they tossed the junky plastic fake flowers, etc. every year. My FIL and I returned and I cut them all down and had the wood circle sawed by a nearby mill to become the above items. At that time I was a vocational counselor in a local prison. My office was what had been a practice building for electricity students to do house wiring routines. The previous guy had a crummy office made from a corner of a classroom area with an overhead door for the long wall. I made a real office a condition for taking the job. The heat in my "small little house office" was baseboard heaters. I staked the best of this cedar directly along that wall on short stickers in a narrow stack and dried it right there along the wall. This is the leftovers from that wood. 

[kantuckid]

what kind of projects will you make with the wood.  could go with a contrasting or complimentary color of epoxy.  If the heartwood has a defect due to rot, it will stabilize the wood.  ant tunnels make things interesting.
one problem with ERC, is the color changes from purple red to brown over time and you fix may not follow that change.  might try using the saw dust with epoxy to make a paste.  it might mimic the color change over time.  

I mixed titebond with heartwood dust and it turns dark brown instantly. I'm going to try superglue next. I have plenty of epoxy too from auto body clear coat but not tried it yet color wise with wood. Bondo makes a great, non-shrinking fast setting, wood filler- then if it's the neutral colored version you can stain it.