Eastern Red Cedar

[Patty]

I have had my eye on the neighbor's tree for some time now, but before I sneak over and cut it down  ;D , I am wondering if it will work on the lathe. I think the purple colors would be really cool in a turned bowl, but I have never seen cedar used. Is there a reason for this?

[LeeB]

It won't stay purple very long. I've turned a little bit of cedar aand had no real problems with it exept the first piece I tried. It was a big root ball that I thought would make a neat bowl. 20 pounds of flying cedar taht launched after a catch and then hit me in the head made me go buy a face sheild. Got a lovely scar through my left eyebrow from that little lesson. Kept the never finished chunk on the shelf for a long time just to remind me that stupid hurts.

[Holmes]

I have had my eye on the neighbor's tree for some time now, but before I sneak over and cut it down  ;D ,

  Why not just shoot it down with your AK that way you can say it was an accident. ;)

[Patty]

That's always an option I guess. 

[sandhills]

I'm nowhere near a woodworker and don't own a lathe but I have all kinds/shapes/sizes of erc.  If you give me a little idea of what your looking for I'd sure send you a chunk or two to play with, I have some I cut down last winter that would be a lot lighter than anything cut green.


 

[Patty]

Thanks Sandhills. My sister lives near you in Duncan. The next time we are visiting her we will just stop in and grab a chunk or two. (nothing like inviting myself over to your place!!  ;D ) I do not want you to go to all the trouble to ship it.

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

Patty

I do quite a bit of bowl turning on the lathe and Eastern Red Cedar is one of my favorite woods to turn. With sharp tools, and it being a relatively soft wood to begin with, it cuts like butter and is very easy to turn and shape. If you try to make segmented wood bowls out of cedar, I would take the time to sand the ends of the individual pieces on a disk sander before you glue them up into rings as it will produce much tighter and sounder joints.

If you are creative you can do some really awesome things with Eastern Red Cedar bowls. One of the neatest things I think I ever did with it was to turn an 8 inch diameter bowl out of a piece that had two opposing knots. After the bowl was turned and sanded, I used a fostner bit and drilled out the knots about half way through the wall thickness of the bowl and then inserted two pealed and sanded cedar branches about 4 inches long into the holes. When you looked at the bowl from the inside and outside, you would see the knots on the inside of the bowl and from the outside it looked like the branches were actually growing out of the bowl at the corresponding locations. Truly a one of a kind conversation piece. Really wish I had a picture of that one, but back then I did not have a digital camera as I do now.

The only word of caution I will give you is to make sure you wear a mask and sealed eye protection as opposed to just safety glasses when turning it and especially when sanding it, but this is a good practice to follow whenever you do any wood turning and sanding, regardless of wood species. The sawdust produced from working with it can be quite irritating to your airway, lungs and eyes for some people.

On a more positive note, the bowls you make from it will be awesome in color and character. I looked around to see if I had any cedar bowls at the house to post pictures of, but I am afraid that our 5 daughters have given each one of them a good home.

[Patty]

Thanks for the advice, I am looking forward to giving this a try.

[isawlogs]

 I have a sister not to far from here you could visite too..    :D

[sandhills]

Yeah, but I'm closer  :D :D :D.  Patty, you and Norm are welcome any time, heck I'll even supply the meat if Norm is up to cookin it!   :D

[Norm]

After my cattle loading advice I figured you'd have a couple of sides of beef lying around.  :D

How far are you from Duncan Pat?

Marcel I'll need some pictures first.... ;D

[sandhills]

If I shot one of those calves we'd have to cook the whole thing to get a meal  ;D.  I'm about 45 minutes NW of Duncan.

[Tree Feller]

I've turned a lot of ERC and it makes very pretty bowls and hollow vessels. However, there are some issues with it.

It is very prone to hairline cracks. Sometimes I can hear the cracks occurring after I have taken the piece off the lathe. CA glue is your friend there but when turning, if the sound changes pitch, stop and inspect the piece. It could be ready to literally explode, especially if you are turning at a higher speed.

Tenons are prone to breaking off, also. I've started soaking ERC tenons with thin CA before mounting in the scroll chuck. Even then, they will sometimes break off. I'll glue them back on with CA and re-chuck the piece when that happens.

The wood is fairly soft and turns well but it also contains silica which will dull your tools quickly. Touch up the edges of your gouge frequently to limit tearout, especially on the end-grain portion of the bowl.

That purplish-red color will eventually turn more brown but an oil/varnish finish like Minwax Antique Oil will keep it vibrant for a long time, especially if kept out of direct sunlight.

Hope this helps.

[Patty]

Thanks for the input guys, your advice is appreciated. I am looking forward to trying this project. And best of all my neighbor is out of the country for a few weeks, so she won't even miss that scraggly old cedar tree for awhile. 

[Kansas]

Ditto on the cracks. My ERC log home has small hairline cracks in nearly every 6x6 D block. I can't see where they hurt anything, but a bowl might be different. I do notice up in the peaks, where they used lumber that looks like logs but is just 1", it did not crack. I know these D blocks were dried down because I checked them with a moisture meter when they were cutting and installing them.  The Amish insisted on using stain on the outside, saying otherwise it would go grey. They did stop that. We just did a light touch.

On another note, the box elder I used for the ceiling has lost nearly all its red. That was a little over two years ago. Its still beautiful, with spalt, some knots etc. But as I expected, the red has nearly all faded away. They put sealer on it, but it didn't stop it.

Does anyone have a really good advice for books on sealers, stains, finishes, procedures, etc. I get asked a lot of times, and not being on the woodworking side of things, I really don't know what to tell them. I have heard there are finishers with UV blockers, but then I also heard they were a bunch of hooey.

[Tree Feller]

Does anyone have a really good advice for books on sealers, stains, finishes, procedures, etc. I get asked a lot of times, and not being on the woodworking side of things, I really don't know what to tell them. I have heard there are finishers with UV blockers, but then I also heard they were a bunch of hooey.

Bob Flexnor's "Understanding Wood Finishes" is the most complete, easy to understand reference that I have found.

The best clear finish that I have found for exterior applications is Epifanes Gloss Marine Varnish. I get mine here... http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=92&familyName=Epifanes+Gloss+Clear+Varnish

It is pricey but if applied per their directions ( 7 coats) it will last 2-4 years before needing maintenance...scuff sanding and a couple additional coats.

It does contain UV blockers, as does any good outdoor finish. Of course, paint is the best finish for outdoor protection. It has UV blockers, too.