John Emmons wrote:
I cut down a juniper tree yesterday. Mainly for firewood but I did cut a
couple of pieces of the trunk into longer pieces thinking to slice em up and
try to make something out of them.

Anyone know what I can expect from juniper wood for use in woodworking?

I already know that it makes for fine firewood.

Is there any reason why I can't do the rough resawing on a table saw, mainly
cleaning off the bark and attempting to square the trunk off/

I don't own a bandsaw yet.


Easern Arinatuc Red cedar, the stuff used to line closets, drawers
and chests is a juniper.

If the juniper you have is similar it will have a very sharp aroma
you will have already noticed, the wood wil be soft, brittle and
have a busy colorful figure. It will probably also be rot-resistant.

Like all rot-resistant wood it will be toxic, much more so than most
wood and prone to inducing or exacerbating alergic reactions, asthma
and contact dermatitis (skin rash). So sensible precautions like
respiratory protection (breathing mask will be important. This
is not much of an issue when cutting down the tree as the sawdust
is coarse and damp, it is the finer particles produced in the
woodshop and by sanding that will get you.

Shellac will probably be a good finish. Should make some nice small
to moderate sized boxes, chests, window boxes and such.

Squaring logs on a table saw can be done but is pretty dicey,
if you can flatten one side with a jointer, jointer plane or
a draw knife first that will help a lot. The bandsaw is the
preferred tool for making boards (resawing) but the juniper will
be soft enough that the table saw should be able to handle it.
You can also make a sled for securing the logs for ripping on
either the table saw of the bandsaw.

This kind of thing is lots of fun. I've done this with Bradford
pear and arborvitae (a decorative cedar. The latter made my eyes
water when resawing, just from the odor.

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FF