Anybody have any opinions about turning cedar. I have an abundant
supply of "recycled" cedar from a chainsaw artist friend of mine.
Have used it for birdhouses up to this point.

-- Papa Chuck

On Mar 16, 12:25 pm, "PapaChuck" wrote:
Anybody have any opinions about turning cedar. I have an abundant
supply of "recycled" cedar from a chainsaw artist friend of mine.
Have used it for birdhouses up to this point.

-- Papa Chuck

I have seen some really pretty things turned from cedar, especially if
some of the light sapwood is left on the piece to give it contrast.

However, it isn't for me. It is soft, tears out easily and the tear
out is annoying hard to get rid of on some pieces. When you can use a
sharp skew or spindle gouge on a spindle turning, it isn't too bad. I
also found out that some types of cedar (some more than others) seem
to really aggravate my allergies in a big way, even with a good dust
mask.

If I have to wear my cartridge mask to turn, sand and clean up, I
pass.

It does indeed make a dandy bird house, though.

Robert

On Mar 16, 1:25 pm, "PapaChuck" wrote:
Anybody have any opinions about turning cedar. I have an abundant
supply of "recycled" cedar from a chainsaw artist friend of mine.
Have used it for birdhouses up to this point.

-- Papa Chuck

Cedar makes beautiful pieces, but I've decided not to use it any more.
It's very brittle, almost like glass when finished. I've had best luck
by turning the piece to finish rather than turning to rough and then
finish turning later. Lately, the only cedar I've turned has been to
make, as you mentioned, birdhouses.

"PapaChuck" wrote in message
oups.com...
Anybody have any opinions about turning cedar. I have an abundant
supply of "recycled" cedar from a chainsaw artist friend of mine.
Have used it for birdhouses up to this point.


Lots of "cedars," none of which are, growing around the US. Eastern white
turns and finishes beautifully. Eastern red has so much oil all it needs is
burnishing, and the sapwood intrusions can be displayed quite strikingly.
Western red makes great ornaments, as does western yellow. They start out
light in weight, so you don't have to be so careful about hollowing.

Lots of insecticide in the heartwood, so it's a cinch it'll irritate the
nose and perhaps beyond. Dust carries the oil, but the oil is enough to
cause respiratory problems for some.

On Mar 16, 2:25 pm, "PapaChuck" wrote:
Anybody have any opinions about turning cedar. I have an abundant
supply of "recycled" cedar from a chainsaw artist friend of mine.
Have used it for birdhouses up to this point.

-- Papa Chuck

I had my first experience with Cedar last week - not sure what kind of
cedar it is, but the result was beautiful (at least to me!!!). It was
soft - but sharp tools and sanding handled it pretty easily. I can't
figure out how to upload a photo - - but I'll try to send you one or
two - -
--Hought

I turn some cedar and I try to confine it to cedar burls. Yellow cedar is
great to turn, oily and like butter (similar colour too). Some cedar wood is
similar to the wood one finds in pencils and it is a royal pain to turn.
Plus it hasn't much charater when turned. A caution here; I have welts on my
wrist similar to poison ivy and as itchy as hell. This was caused by yellow
cedar and every time I get near it agin the rash comes back.

Tom


"PapaChuck" wrote in message
oups.com...
Anybody have any opinions about turning cedar. I have an abundant
supply of "recycled" cedar from a chainsaw artist friend of mine.
Have used it for birdhouses up to this point.

-- Papa Chuck

PapaChuck wrote:

Anybody have any opinions about turning cedar. I have an abundant
supply of "recycled" cedar from a chainsaw artist friend of mine.
Have used it for birdhouses up to this point.


Got some deador cedar big branch segments pruned abuot three
years back and left outdoors since then - so the 12-14" diameter
logettes were pretty dry. Dry - but cracks and check only allowed
for a few useable pieces maybe 5" square by maybe a foot.

Pic of turned lidded box made with this stuff in a.b.p.w.

Sharp tools a must. This one done with a curved cutting edge
3/4" skew.

charlie b

take a look at

http://home.comcast.net/~wskossack/boxes/cedarvase.html
http://home.comcast.net/~wskossack/boxes/cedar726.html

PapaChuck wrote:
Anybody have any opinions about turning cedar. I have an abundant
supply of "recycled" cedar from a chainsaw artist friend of mine.
Have used it for birdhouses up to this point.

-- Papa Chuck

On Mar 16, 2:25 pm, "PapaChuck" wrote:
Anybody have any opinions about turning cedar. I have an abundant
supply of "recycled" cedar from a chainsaw artist friend of mine.
Have used it for birdhouses up to this point.

-- Papa Chuck

Hey Papa C,
I fell into a load of cedar, and since I didint have any and had never
turned it harvested a load.

What an experience that was!

It is delicate. My first vessel came apart while spinning on the
lathe. Sounded like a bomb went off.

By my third I was over the learning curve hump. I had yet to learn how
to finish it, in dealing with the oils.

But man o man, what beautiful pieces it makes. I have sold a few
pieces from cedar, this exemplifies how attractive it is.

I have a tip sheet I will add to my website one day. The very first
tip...make sure you mount it in a way that is extra firm, turn a foot
and grip the outside of the foot if making a vessel. If making a bowl,
use a recessed hole or counterbored foot that has at least .75" of
outside wall.

2nd, tools must be kept very sharp. This means stop and sharpen often.
Use light tough and cut, dont scrape. Reserve scraping for very last
finishing and use just a feather weight of pressure.

When you think you have a finished piece, and are ready to
sand...stop. Dismount it, take it to your house and let it sit around
at room temp for a week. This will allow oils and tensions to relax
some. Then after this finish the surface.

3rd, sanding and finish. You will probably have some warpage and
distortion. If it isnt too bad, patient light scraping is in order. If
the distortion is more than a .25" out of round, go back to a very
sharp small diameter gouge and take super light cuts to get it in
round. Then scrape to final surface.

Sanding will try your patience. Be prepared to use a lot of paper. Buy
cheap sand paper for 60, 100, and 150 grades. It will clog fast and
the oil will make it impossible to remove. This wood heats up very
fast when sanding too. So take light pressure for only a few seconds
in one spot. Best thing is to make sure you keep the paper moving all
the time to prevent heating any one spot too much.

When you get to 200 grit, you wont need to use this grit or subsequent
finer grits much.

I highly recommend you add sealer the way I do all my works. Spray
Deft sanding sealer on the piece while it turns. Let it continue
turning to dry it, this only takes about 2 minutes. Turn off the lathe
and check to make sure its dry. If you did it even and there are no
runs, get a strip of white felt, or white linen.

Turn on the lathe and while the piece spins, hold the strip by both
ends and apply it lightly to the work as it spins. Keep the strip
moving so it will not heat the sealer too much and melt it. You will
see a gloss develop on the sealer if you are doing it right.

Do this 3 times. You will build a hard, glossy coat to the work that
looks like glass. BE careful though. If you get the coat too hot, it
will melt onto your strip, and leave ugly streaks on the coat of
sealer.

If that happens, you will have to backtrack and sand it off, and do
this process all over again.

Once you have 3 good coats of sealer on it, you can spray a coat of
polyurethane on it. Dont polish this. Let it dry naturally for a few
days dismounted from the lathe.

I recommend you find an old record player, the kind we used to play LP
or vinyl records. Make a wood hub that will fit the spindle of the
record player. Turn the other end of the hub to fit the foot or
counterbore of your bowls. Put the hub on your record player.

Now when you want to spray finish your bowls, put the bowl on the hub
of the record player, turn it on speed of 16 rpms. Spray your finish
on the bowl as it spins on the rec. player. You will get a very even
finish. Take your time though, it is easy to spray too much and wind
up with runs. Leave the piece spinning on the player and go do
something else for an hour. This helps prevent runs and speeds drying.

I fog my piece on the record player each time. Usually taking at least
3 applicatoins, to get the desired glassy appearance.

I have a few pieces of cedar left in stock at my site if any of you
want to purchase some. I hope to get more soon. My iste is:
http://handturnedbowls.biz

Happy cedar turning.

jimmy holland (cad)

one thing I do after some experimentation is to sand and finish the
outside before hollowing. The heat of sanding can cause it to crack.
The two pieces in my photos are turned to 1/4 to 1/8th in thickness.

cad wrote:
On Mar 16, 2:25 pm, "PapaChuck" wrote:
Anybody have any opinions about turning cedar. I have an abundant
supply of "recycled" cedar from a chainsaw artist friend of mine.
Have used it for birdhouses up to this point.

-- Papa Chuck

Hey Papa C,
I fell into a load of cedar, and since I didint have any and had never
turned it harvested a load.

What an experience that was!

It is delicate. My first vessel came apart while spinning on the
lathe. Sounded like a bomb went off.

By my third I was over the learning curve hump. I had yet to learn how
to finish it, in dealing with the oils.

But man o man, what beautiful pieces it makes. I have sold a few
pieces from cedar, this exemplifies how attractive it is.

I have a tip sheet I will add to my website one day. The very first
tip...make sure you mount it in a way that is extra firm, turn a foot
and grip the outside of the foot if making a vessel. If making a bowl,
use a recessed hole or counterbored foot that has at least .75" of
outside wall.

2nd, tools must be kept very sharp. This means stop and sharpen often.
Use light tough and cut, dont scrape. Reserve scraping for very last
finishing and use just a feather weight of pressure.

When you think you have a finished piece, and are ready to
sand...stop. Dismount it, take it to your house and let it sit around
at room temp for a week. This will allow oils and tensions to relax
some. Then after this finish the surface.

3rd, sanding and finish. You will probably have some warpage and
distortion. If it isnt too bad, patient light scraping is in order. If
the distortion is more than a .25" out of round, go back to a very
sharp small diameter gouge and take super light cuts to get it in
round. Then scrape to final surface.

Sanding will try your patience. Be prepared to use a lot of paper. Buy
cheap sand paper for 60, 100, and 150 grades. It will clog fast and
the oil will make it impossible to remove. This wood heats up very
fast when sanding too. So take light pressure for only a few seconds
in one spot. Best thing is to make sure you keep the paper moving all
the time to prevent heating any one spot too much.

When you get to 200 grit, you wont need to use this grit or subsequent
finer grits much.

I highly recommend you add sealer the way I do all my works. Spray
Deft sanding sealer on the piece while it turns. Let it continue
turning to dry it, this only takes about 2 minutes. Turn off the lathe
and check to make sure its dry. If you did it even and there are no
runs, get a strip of white felt, or white linen.

Turn on the lathe and while the piece spins, hold the strip by both
ends and apply it lightly to the work as it spins. Keep the strip
moving so it will not heat the sealer too much and melt it. You will
see a gloss develop on the sealer if you are doing it right.

Do this 3 times. You will build a hard, glossy coat to the work that
looks like glass. BE careful though. If you get the coat too hot, it
will melt onto your strip, and leave ugly streaks on the coat of
sealer.

If that happens, you will have to backtrack and sand it off, and do
this process all over again.

Once you have 3 good coats of sealer on it, you can spray a coat of
polyurethane on it. Dont polish this. Let it dry naturally for a few
days dismounted from the lathe.

I recommend you find an old record player, the kind we used to play LP
or vinyl records. Make a wood hub that will fit the spindle of the
record player. Turn the other end of the hub to fit the foot or
counterbore of your bowls. Put the hub on your record player.

Now when you want to spray finish your bowls, put the bowl on the hub
of the record player, turn it on speed of 16 rpms. Spray your finish
on the bowl as it spins on the rec. player. You will get a very even
finish. Take your time though, it is easy to spray too much and wind
up with runs. Leave the piece spinning on the player and go do
something else for an hour. This helps prevent runs and speeds drying.

I fog my piece on the record player each time. Usually taking at least
3 applicatoins, to get the desired glassy appearance.

I have a few pieces of cedar left in stock at my site if any of you
want to purchase some. I hope to get more soon. My iste is:
http://handturnedbowls.biz

Happy cedar turning.

jimmy holland (cad)

On Mar 16, 1:25 pm, "PapaChuck" wrote:
Anybody have any opinions about turning cedar. I have an abundant
supply of "recycled" cedar from a chainsaw artist friend of mine.
Have used it for birdhouses up to this point.

-- Papa Chuck

I've had really good luck with cedar for both turned pens and boxes.
It is a softwood that can be dinged easily, but the turning results
when finished can be outstanding. See link for some recent cedar
efforts.

http://www.woodworkingcrafts.com/inf...00/ppuser/1666