ERC table top

[Poquo]

Built this Cedar table for a young couple I

 know. Book matched slabs for the top 78 inches long by 37-38.5 inches wide.

[LeeB]

Is that only two boards? That a big cedar.

[Poquo]

Yes, it's only 2 boards with no rot or shake in them, it's the best Cedar I've ever cut. Around here big Cedar usually have issues inside the log.

[doc henderson]

Very nice.  I love ERC.

[firefighter ontheside]

Thats very nice.  I wish I could find some nice,big logs.  All the big logs I get are rotten inside.

[WDH]

Just fantastic!

[WV Sawmiller]

   That's pretty embarrassing. Hurry up and send it here and I'll help you hide it.! :D

    I love the bookmatching effect.

[Poquo]

Thanks for the comments, I put one coat of Zinsser sanding sealer let dry overnight then lightly sand. Then used Deft Exterior Water Based Poly it has UV blockers in it. I like water based it seems to be a clearer finish. Told the couple to keep it out of direct sunlight, so the cedar will keep the color a long time. I've read the oils in cedar will cause some finishes to peel, so I use the sanding sealer to prevent that.

[kantuckid]

Very nice table! 
I was buying cedar logs a few years back from a UPS guy who also farmed and was clearing cedar off an old grown-up farm he'd bought adjoining his place in Knott Co., KY, about an hour from me. 
 I was after logs that would saw 6"- 5/4 and 6x6 porch posts which most all of his would easily do. When I went after a load, I saw this huge cedar log sitting aside from the others and bought it same price as the rest which was market price when he hauled to a commercial cedar yard long ways from his home. (He allowed me to pass over anything less than my jobs sizing.) 
I slabbed that cedar and it was at the frame limit of my WM LT15 mill so ~ 27-30" diameter and was nearly defect free. I made one ERC headboard for our king bed we sleep in and a small table from the end cut off of that. 
Poly-wipe finishes look as good as anything I ever used on cedar. First two coats will soak and around the 3rd coat you'll be building up some. Sand between coats with 320.
I'll add that even though ERC is far from my favorite species, it is the easiest species to air dry, for end use, of any I know. It's also very stable and bugs mostly like the bark edges so other than watching for typical crevices and cracks it's easy to handle. 
One of my latest ERC maneuvers is to use Bondo to fill defects which can be large. I built some small fiddle back stools from some ERC, thick shorts and filled back sides of otherwise nice wood. If you use the red hardner cream it will also color match some or can be colored with a felt tip marker to match cedar darker reds.   

[doc henderson]

do you have any pics of the ERC stools and the repair/filling with Bondo?

[Poquo]

I use epoxy mixed with sawdust saved from my belt sander to fill voids in ERC, almost looks like a knot once piece is finished.

[kantuckid]

do you have any pics of the ERC stools and the repair/filling with Bondo?

I could easily take one but for the fact that I gave both stools to GK's. I do have the paper pattern for that fiddle back stool and can mail it to anyone. I'm in that dumb headed group that doesn't find it easy to load pics here! maybe call it lazy? Now that I think it through, I've got that stool in a bedroom made from osage orange long time ago. I make it with turned short legs-it's more decorative than useful based on the low height.
I'll give the pic thing a whirl on Thursday.
Bondo is a great general use wood filler. In fact there are a few brands of epoxy filler pkg. for log home repairs, rotted wood in older homes, etc.. Same stuff. AB supply house will have variations of cheap vs. not cheap, glass fiber added , so on. The creme hardener I mentioned color varies based on sanding procedures common to AB work where you do a repair in steps and can thus see the additional new material, so on. The trick with a wood repair is that the concave area is best to have a retentional shape that helps keep the fill material in the cavity. I've also used it with Wormy Chestnut reclaimed wood where repairs are common. Magic marker works to color the filler.
ERC varies in color. My big log I mentioned is nice but more pinkish than other ERC I've used-maybe the result of age?
A maroon magic marker simulates ERC knots pretty well.  
I've used lots of sawdust/glue fillers but they have limitations in look and shrinkage happens too. They virtually never look the same as the wood the dust comes from as the glue darkens the wood flour. IMO there is no perfect wood filler. A plug cutter with well chosen wood comes as close as you'll get other than something more involved in shape. I just got done with an antique stool that came from my Wifes family's old US Post office/country store. It had been  "repaired by a caveman" and I took it apart and redid it which was more involved than it deserved. One leg had a large split off end that I splice a repair piece to it. It's a cute stool, ash top, maple legs, formerly had casters now flat ends but steam bent legs. The rungs are so eroded from people's feet it's got some serious patina going on. The provenance alone made it a worthwhile job though as that property is now being sold and was in her family a very long time. 

[kantuckid]

Thanks for the comments, I put one coat of Zinsser sanding sealer let dry overnight then lightly sand. Then used Deft Exterior Water Based Poly it has UV blockers in it. I like water based it seems to be a clearer finish. Told the couple to keep it out of direct sunlight, so the cedar will keep the color a long time. I've read the oils in cedar will cause some finishes to peel, so I use the sanding sealer to prevent that.

I've used lacquer, various varnishes, poly coats various and Watco Danish Oil and Teak oil finishes (not pure teak oil) maybe some others and never had one peel and I never used sanding sealers on ERC either. Not saying it hurts a thing, but I use whatever I'm using and they all work OK is my point. I've found lately that Poly-wipe finishes pop the ERC colors as well as any other finish I've used. My thinking is the thin viscosity allows good penetration, thus the good coloration. If I can get the picture thing working here I'll post a pic of a ERC thru leg small table I made for my off-grid cabin project last winter. For time being my wife adopted it into the LR as a 2nd coffee table... :D