Deodar Cedar

Jim you should get the Cedar,It’s in the same sub species as cedar of Lebanon a true cedar.It doent come up very often I have worked with some and its a pleasure to use.

Heres a look at some of my cedar of Lebenon

-- Aj

Go with some medium sized projects of the heirloom variety. The main selling point of Cedar is the scent – very popular for blanket chests, wardrobes, dressers, anything that you use to store cloth or clothes. A table or bar top might be attractive but with the waterproof seal you lose the aroma. Even thin slices are used as liners for drawers and closets to repel insects and people pay big bucks to have closets lined with cedar veneer. I have Cedar chests in each bedroom of my house – all are over 50 years old and they still smell great because the interiors were left unsealed. Good luck and be sure to post your projects.

-- Leafherder

No experience, but thanks for posting because I enjoyed reading about it. As said it’s a true cedar which only grow in Himalayan regions and the Mediterranean. Not sure why it would be called a soft hardwood. Maybe a hard softwood. It’s a conifer.

-- Bill M. "People change, walnut doesn't" by Gene.

Thanks guys—I think I’m going to go and look at it and probably come home with a few slabs. This source also has some large diameter olive wood about 3-4 feet in length. I’m definitely going after THAT!
Thanks again!
Jim

-- Jim, Altadena, CA

Good luck,
I think I good way to finish this if you’re worried about the resin interfering with finished drying is to use dewaxed shellac and then anything you want over that.

-- Bill M. "People change, walnut doesn't" by Gene.

Firefighter—thanks for the tip. Missing that one could really screw up a finishing job.

-- Jim, Altadena, CA

I have built several things from it. The grain is unique and “swirly” but it has a lot of resin in it which I do not like to deal with.

-- Roger M, Aiken, SC

I’ve heard the same this re: resin, but someone here said that sealing it with shellac would help a lot.

-- Jim, Altadena, CA

If you put it in the attic, you can “set” the pitch so that the pitch or resin will not run out or be sticky below the max temp that the wood reaches. For example, if it gets 130 degrees in the attic in Summer, the pitch will be set at 130 degrees. You can easily do this in a kiln, but most woodworkers do not have a kiln.

-- Danny Located in Perry, GA. Forester. Wood-Mizer LT40HD35 Sawmill. Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln. hamsleyhardwood.com

The cedar I have has resin canels, shellac will not stop the resin from running.I didn’t find too much of a bothersome I used naphtha to dissolve the pitch.Its a extra step to work the wood but the payoff is worth it.Maybe your slabs will have less or maybe more just never know.
Heres a pic of the canal pockets.

-- Aj

The idea of “setting” the pitch by heating is a great way to stop or reduce the problem, it seems. Should be easy enough to make a small solar kiln here in SoCal and let the sun do the work. Some black poly and framing should do it. How long does it take for the pitch to “set”??

-- Jim, Altadena, CA

I “set” it for 24 hours. However, I believe that once the internal temp of the wood is constant, the pitch is set at that temp.

-- Danny Located in Perry, GA. Forester. Wood-Mizer LT40HD35 Sawmill. Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln. hamsleyhardwood.com

I guess that explains why my house logs still occasionally drip sap when the temp reaches a new high.

-- Bill M. "People change, walnut doesn't" by Gene.

Thanks for the “setting” info—this puts Deodar cedar in a different category as far as I’m concerned. I wasn’t looking forward to working with all that pitch and rosin.
Thanks again for all the tips—-you guys are great!
Jim

-- Jim, Altadena, CA

Guys-
A follow-up re: doedar cedar. I used it, after air-drying in my garage for several months at 80-95 degrees F. Made a nice coffee table for some folks who bought it as soon as they saw it on etsy. I had to take it back less than a year later and make them a replacement table (from elm this time!). Four coats of dewaxed shellac, 3 coats of poly. Every knot, swirl, or grain abberation oozed pitch right thru the finish. When I saw it I was heartbroken and felt really sorry for my customers, as I felt I had mis-represented the product. They’re happy now, but I’m stuck with a table (and 3 more 11ft. x 3 ft x 2” slabs) that I’ve got to try to salvage. Can’t find anyone who will kiln dry them for a reasonable cost at 155-170 degrees F. Thinking about cutting it all down to smaller pieces and making a small kiln drier out of a used electric oven/range. Anybody out there ever tried this??
I won’t be convinced that it works until I age some of the heat treated parts (with various finishes) for at least a year.
Let me know your thoughts. As usual, I’d really appreciate it.
Thanks!

-- Jim, Altadena, CA