# newbie question about cedar wood work



## rustyhook (Jul 17, 2004)

is it possible to buy regular cedar fence planks from say home depot, run them thru a small planner purchased from same store and once smooth on one side simply apply linseed oil and the pretty wood grain color will show up like all these awesome cedar finished projects that are posted on this board ?

all the finished cedar boards (less than 1/2 inch thick) I see at hardware stores are warped to some small degree

Also, part 2, is linseed oil the preferred product to apply to finished cedar??

thanks

rh


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## dominoman (Jan 11, 2014)

RH, not sure of the type of cedar you are talking about, generally the cedar boards at Home Depot etc, are western red cedar, they don't have the coloration like the eastern red cedar that most cedar chests are made from, the Western Cedar doesn't have the aromatic smell like the Eastern. This chest was made from Eastern Red Cedar, finished with clear gloss poly (several coats)


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

Let me try this again. One table is western red cedar planed and finished with indoor / outdoor polyurethane. The other two are Eastern aromatic finished with the same polyurethane. The red cedar table lives outside and turned gray after about five years. It gets wet and is very exposed but still has a little redness to it. Inside it would be just fine. The pickets are mostly pulp unless you find some real good ones and are pretty thin to begin with. The red cedar was 3/4 and the aromatic was 5/4 so planing wasn't a problem. South American or Brazilian cedar is really nice, used in yachts and some cabinets. I have worked with it also but only on customers boats. One boat we renovated was totally paneled with it and had bugs in it, all was removed except for a hallway and it was being eaten while they were repainting it. Wasn't my call on that. I will see if my pictures load. The one on the deck is red cedar.


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## TXPIRATE (Jan 28, 2009)

I believe you will have a problem with it splitting on you. Also the pickets are very green and not what you would call the pick of the litter when it comes to quality. I work with a lot of ERC and I guess you can call me old fashion but if I can get away with it I use shellac. It brings out the grain the best in my opinion. It depends on what you want to use it for. Here are a few projects I have done for some customers.


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## rustyhook (Jul 17, 2004)

*thanks for advise*

thank-you gentlemen for the response's. It has answered my question.

i make misc. flat metal art with a cnc plasma cutter and had a thought to make some simple rectangular cedar backgrounds to adhere some pieces to. Kinda mix it up. i've adhered pieces to slate, re-purposed old wood and rusty tin.

thanks again for yall's time to share your knowledge.

rowdy


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

If you have access to pallets you might take a look at the slats used to build them. Sometimes you come across some that are made out of Luan or some kind of junk Mahogany. I know a local artist here that makes musical instruments out of pieces he salvages, a lot are from pallets. I made these two tables from stuff out of a dumpster. The second one was all pallet material.


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## PortHoleDiver (Sep 5, 2007)

Where are you guys getting your Easter Red Cider Boards? Looking for some for a honey do project. Thanks


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

PortHoleDiver said:


> Where are you guys getting your Easter Red Cider Boards? Looking for some for a honey do project. Thanks


The closest big town I live next to is Victoria. I have bought it a Zarsky's and would guess Lowes or Home Depot has Red Cedar as well. I quit buying hardwoods from the big stores a long time ago, they don't discount it enough. Mostly I buy at Zarsky's or Marr's there in Victoria. The aromatic cedar I bought in Seadrift Texas but that place burned down a while back. I have bought some nice stuff down in Rockport at Pro Build Lumber that used to be Fowler I think was the name. If you are in the Houston area there should be plenty of places maybe someone will turn you on to some. Good luck.


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