Finishing Old Cedar

[Bernie Kopfer]

I recently obtained some beautiful old growth Western Red Cedar burls and am having trouble obtaining an appropriate finish on it. I turned a small bowl and applied polymerized tung oil. Looked nice but too dark, somewhat obscuring the figure. Does anyone have a better finish/technique to minimize the darkening of the wood? Oil appears to be the culprit in this case. High satin or even gloss would be fine as long as the grain and figure were not hidden.

 

[Michael Anderson]

If you’re trying to preserve the color and figure, my suggestion would be shellac and then lacquer. You could also go the water-based poly route.

 

[Chris Lawrence]

If your willing to spray emtech makes 2 water based lacquers and a sanding sealer. EM6000 will slightly darken the wood but not as much as oil will. EM7000 will petty much stay water clear and not change the color of the wood but will make the grain more visible. Both work like a traditional lacquer that will dissolve a little bit of previous coats so no sanding is required between coats. I spray my turnings with an inexpensive detail spray gun from harbor freight. Specifically the one that comes with the regulator.

 

[Richard Coers]

I don't like water based on cedar. That finish just looks too cold. Some even give the wood a blue tint. Lacquer or Artist Fixative would be my choice. Fixative is used to set chalk and pastel art work, so doesn't change color. It is a flat sheen.

 

[Mike Boyette]

I have never turned Western red cedar but have turned a lot of Eastern red cedar. It smell nice and its red but it is not my favorite. For one thing it is coarse with lots of tear outs. I have tried about everything finish wise on it and nothing is very satisfying. About the only thing I have found that comes close to bringing out the figure is wipe on oil based polyurethane.

 

[Ric Williams]

If you’re trying to preserve the color and figure, my suggestion would be shellac and then lacquer. You could also go the water-based poly route.

I'm with Michael. I use a 1/2 lb cut of shellac as sanding sealer on just about everything. Then unless I want a penetrating oil finish, I'll use a base of 3/4 lb cut shellac with whatever I want over it for a finish coat. In your case lacquer would be a good choice, or if you don't want to spray, General Finishes Arm-R-Seal is a good oil based wipe on poly that doesn't change the color, goes on easily and is available in 3 or 4 different gloss levels.
Just my $0.02 and worth what you paid for it.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

If you want a bit of gloss, try Myland's high build friction polish. It's shellac and beeswax.

 

[Bernie Kopfer]

Thank you for the options. I violated rule no.1 and did not try out the finish on a scrap. Looks nice just too dark.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Another good flat finish for cedar with minimal color shift is Krylon Matte Finish. It is an acrylic lacquer so it won't yellow with age

 

[Jim Woods]

I use a lot of western cedar making Native American style flutes. I really like the finish from spray lacquer, though it must be done in a well vented area.

 

[Darryn Achall]

I use a lot of western cedar making Native American style flutes. I really like the finish from spray lacquer, though it must be done in a well vented area.

Nice flutes! Are they made as two horizontal pieces or do you have a system for drilling them out? I'm interested in hearing about your process.

 

[Jim Woods]

Darry, I rout the half pieces with a box core bit, chisel in the fipple and ramp for flue, burn interior surfaces, glue up and turn to 3/16" wall.