What is best to finish Cedar?
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Finishing Cedar
- Thread starter Lawrence Rayborn
- Start date
Do not know the best finish but I would use a seal coat of shellac first. Had a box I did for the wife's flute and the finish bubbled since I did not seal first I have always thought that was the reason for finish failure on
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Shellac is a safe finish for cedar. Polyurethane varnish could react with the resins in cedar and either preventing from property curing or even many years later it could cause the varnish to become gummy. I've experienced the long term gummy varnish issue with polyurethane varnish even though I had applied a single layer of 1 lb cut shellac as a sealer.
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Not sure which cedar you're referring to, but for the few red cedar bowls and a good number of cypress bowls, I like tung oil. Oily woods seem to do well with tung oil in my experience. Best to thin it 30-50% on the first coats. I like citrus oil.
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Thread moved from Introductions to Woodturning Discussion Forum.