I'd rather turn Redwood than Fir anytime. Fir is a great building
wood - strong beams. But the wood is 'stringy' and in short sections
doesn't hold up.

I would never call Redwood Brittle. The wood is moist and holds
moisture for a very long time. Shrinkage is nominal.

Madrone is a good turning wood - a bit tough to use in large sections.
There is to much energy stored in the blocks - and they are normally
twisted and bent.

I used to live in the mountains with acreage of coastal Redwood.
I had sections of Madrone and Holly. I had a large holly cut down
by the electric company (PG&E) and left where it lie. I was able to
get some of the trunk and turned a number of 'cups' from 2 to 6" tall.
I had a nice desk set to hold the paper clips etc of life.

I have furniture that is over 50 years old that lasted. I'm rebuilding
some it it this winter - the legs sitting in the ground were eaten up.

Martin

On 10/13/2013 11:30 AM, . wrote:
On 10/12/2013 7:44 PM, Martin Eastburn wrote:
I'd see if you can find a reclaim wood store - and maybe you can
find some good planks.

Remember Redwood is considered a hard wood. Not rock hard. Most of
old town San Francisco is Redwood in the buildings. After the Great
fire and earthquake, they used Redwood from the San Lorenzo valley
(near Santa Cruz) to rebuild. Massive sawmills shipped northward on
barges.

A number of good sources might be on the west bay - Some of the old
wood might have been parts of clipper ships and would be very good.

Martin

Redwood is brittle. Monterey Cyprus is available in the area and is
strong. look for what is native.