Just bought some white cedar - am I nuts?

[WoodLight]

I'm just wondering if any of you have any thoughts on white cedar (northern, Atlantic) and whether you have ever incorporated it in indoor applications/furniture. I know it's not as fashionable as the exotics and the more standard furniture woods, but I'm curious whether anyone has experimented with it. I'm sure there are reasons other than "fashion" that it's not more widely used indoors. Red cedar, cypress and other softwoods are often used in indoor applications. How different in working characteristics, etc, is white cedar? Is it a sappy wood?

I have a local sawmill that specializes in rough cut Vermont white cedar, selling mostly for traditional uses. I couldn't help myself the other day and bought a number of boards, kind of on a whim. I came home with a small load in a variety of sizes, including a few natural edge pieces and some wide, thin planks with some interesting grain and edges. Most of what I grabbed was just junk in his eyes, so it was even cheaper than normal - cheap enough that I feel like I can experiment with it pretty freely.

I'm thinking of planing the thin pieces (1/2 inch thick now) to make them thin enough to incorporate into some lamp designs I've been drawing, letting the light to shine through the wood. The other pieces I may try to incorporate into small table or shelf designs.

Also curious about seasoing - As I understand it, white cedar seasons differently than a lot of other woods. The impression I've gotten - both from talking to the sawyer and from reading a bit online - is that its moisture content changes very little from its green state to its 'cured' state. The sawmill owner actually told me that you can go ahead and use it without seasoning it. That sounds extreme to me. I've got my new cedar stickered just like all my other wood, right now.

Am I nuts??

[Vic]

I don't know you well enough to comment on your state of mind, but as most of us are, I assume you probably are too.

I love the idea of that for the lamps! I'm not sure about the seasoning of the wood. If your sawyer thinks their isn't much change, I'd tend to believe him. At least, I'd believe mine. It makes sense to me, in that it would be a very porous wood and should very quickly change with humidity. That would be the only problem I would see with it, but in a constant humidity level, it should be fine. I live in the desert, so not much changes here from season to season, especially inside the conditioned space.

[Bob Rozaieski]

White cedar was a very common secondary wood in mid-atlantic period furniture. While white pine was more common in New England, here in the mid atlantic region, white cedar was extremely abundant. Being so easy to work (and so abundant and inexpensive), it was very commonly used for interior drawer parts, case backs, chest bottoms, etc. I haven't seen it used as a primary wood on interior pieces too often, but you do occasionally see it used as a primary wood for exterior pieces, though it is not as rot resistant as red cedar. If used in the right application I think it would be very nice. I think the lamp idea would work well. Would probably make a nice [blanket] chest as well. Not sure I would use it as a primary wood on high wear pieces like chests of drawers or tables. Being so soft I think it would damage easily. Makes good secondary wood for those pieces though.

[duckkisser]

if you bought wood with alot of figure and grain and its slimmer you can always make boxes to store letters and what not in seeing as it makes a great deterent against pests. i have some quarter sawn white cedar that was part of a barn that is probably a hundred years old. still waiting for just the right project.

[WoodLight]

Thanks for your responses. It's nice to know my whim wasn't a fool's errand.

Vic, I think you're right about the fast changes with humidity. I ran a hand plane over four sides of one of the green pieces of wood (it worked really nicely, planing to a high sheen easily) and brought it upstairs to the apartment to see how it would react to the change. Some pretty pronounced checking resulted even just overnight in the drier, warmer environment. No real surprise really, but for me this just confirms that while working it green might be fine for some purposes, I'll be trying to dry it more slowly before using it for interior work.

Bob, Thanks for giving me some historical perspective. Again, it's nice to hear there's some precedent for some of my thoughts for this wood. You are definitely right about the wear issue if used in a table top or similar spot. Very soft and extremely light. One of the large "slabs" that I bought surprised me when I picked it up - it felt like it was about to float away. I am thinking I'd like to use it as more than just a secondary wood, though, perhaps mixed with a harder wood in the heavy wear areas. I'm still bouncing ideas around my head. I'm not sure how much difference there is between Atlantic white cedar and Northern white cedar (I'm assuming the latter is what I have), but I'll be looking into that a bit more. I'm guessing it would be mostly Atlantic down your way? (I can't help but mention that I'm a big fan of your site and your videos. I haven't been over there for a little while, but you do a really nice job. Really practical but still in-depth and well informed. Keep up the good work.)

duckkisser, I like the box idea and some of the pieces I bought would probably make some really interesting small boxes. I would love to get my hands on some old growth, quartersawn barn wood. It's amazing the difference in the quality of those really old woods, sometimes elevating a species that modern woodworkers don't pay much attention to. I have some old birch molding that I've held onto for years. It's really beautiful, old growth, hard and dry. It makes great sounding banjo bridges. Other than a few of those, I haven't done anything with it. Like you said, I'm waiting for the right project.

[mds2]

Man, I wish I could get white cedar down here. Great for fan carving!

[WoodLight]

I watched an episode of The Woodwright's Shop last night where Roy Underhill had a guest from Minnesota (?) who does fan carving. I had never seen that before! Amazing. Now, that's something that I'd never thought to do with a piece of wood.

Where are you? Should I send you a small block of white cedar? If you'll exchange for some local wood that I can't get up here, I swear I'll do it.