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Finishing Cedar bowl
- Thread starter jwavem
- Start date
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
The best finish I have found for cedar is Krylon Fixatif but that's just the one that changes it's color the least. Some oil finishes make cedar really dark. As far as I know almost any finish will work on cedar. As far as gumming up the paper, I haven't had that problem except in areas near the pith. If it's a bad problem try using the mesh sandpaper made by Mirka. I forget who sells it, but can look when I get home. It is similar to the mesh paper you buy so sand drywall, which also works but doesn't come in as fine a grit.
Cedar is very thirsty, it will soak up finish readily, frustrating many turners favoring oil finishes. If you choose an oil, you can mitigate the 1000 coats syndrome somewhat by applying a coat of shellac after the first few coats sink in, then knocking down the shellac and fuzzies with some 320 or finer paper.
Personally, cedar polishes up really well with just fine grits of sandpaper, so I'd sand it till I was happy with the sheen and then give it a coat of wax.
Personally, cedar polishes up really well with just fine grits of sandpaper, so I'd sand it till I was happy with the sheen and then give it a coat of wax.
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Depends a bit on which of the many "cedars" you're using. Eastern white and western red/Port Orford are indeed thirsty stuff. Eastern red, or "aromatic," the stuff of cedar chests, burnishes so well with its own oils it almost seems a shame to sand and finish it.
The thing you have to remember is that turpentine, a solvent for most oil-based finishes, comes from conifers. Around knots and from pitch pickets, a lot can come out. So much that it will lift the finish right off. That's why using something without a common solvent like lacquer or shellac is recommended either as a finish of its own, or a sealer. It's not soluble in terpenes.
I use shellac, and it sticks well, even around knots.
The thing you have to remember is that turpentine, a solvent for most oil-based finishes, comes from conifers. Around knots and from pitch pickets, a lot can come out. So much that it will lift the finish right off. That's why using something without a common solvent like lacquer or shellac is recommended either as a finish of its own, or a sealer. It's not soluble in terpenes.
I use shellac, and it sticks well, even around knots.
If you have an airbrush or better yet, an air gun, you can just spray it with Deft or something similar. I've sprayed cedar several times and my finish was much nicer than my turning (they were some of my first turnings)
Im turning western cedar now and...
Would varathane work? 😕
or would it mess everything up horrably 😱
Would varathane work? 😕
or would it mess everything up horrably 😱
Nice work Jim. After turning cedar, do you still like the smell? Honestly, I've turned cedar twice, and I am starting to not like the smell at all, lol.
Varathane may work Kyle, but I think it would darken the piece a bit and mask the red that most folks want to keep.
An old salt in my area uses SPF 45 sunblock (the oiliest, greasiest he can find) to polish the wood, but it doesn't offer a lot of durability, but it does reduce the browning he says.
Varathane may work Kyle, but I think it would darken the piece a bit and mask the red that most folks want to keep.
An old salt in my area uses SPF 45 sunblock (the oiliest, greasiest he can find) to polish the wood, but it doesn't offer a lot of durability, but it does reduce the browning he says.