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turning cedar to a thin wall

Gary Chapman

Gary Chapman

Joined
Mar 3, 2009
Messages
244
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Location
Madison, Indiana
I am having trouble with cedar when I try to get a really thing wall. it never fails to crack when i hollow to a 1/8 or 3/16 wall thickness. Lots of times it wil even check when I put a soaking sealer on it. Cedar and I just don't work well together. Thanks Gary
 
Which of the "cedar" types are you turning? Eastern red, the stuff they put in closets checks with very little heat or pressure. Don't turn it so thin. It's so light you can even make 1/4" thick ornaments with little problem. Don't bruise it with the heel of the bevel and try to avoid sanding at all, if possible. If you must sand, cool it with mineral spirits prior and during.
 
It is red cedar and I have noticed it wants to crack under sanding heat. The wood I am turning is also knotty and it wants to check especially around them. I will lay off the thin walls and try to sand less. Thanks
 
I turned a few thin. The only one that broke was one I tried to bleach. Apparently the bleach penetrated rapidly in that one section and caused the wood to expand there before it had a chance to expand anywhere else. The bowl broke into 5 pieces as the bleach penetrated. Next time I'm going to spray water on all surfaces quickly and then try the bleach.
 
Howdy Gary.......

Without knowing all the details, you might be able to help with just a speed reduction and/or using a steady like the Oneway bowl steady.

When using the OW bowl steady, sometimes it's possible to actually increase the speed and have less vibration. For my purposes, I can test the vibration by simply placing my hand on the bedway while adjusting the variable speed control.

ooc
 

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red cedar

I find that the grain that makes Western Red Cedar split nicely into shakes also makes it hard to turn thin. It can be done, but expect a pretty high failure rate or plan to do some glue and fill.

I find yellow cedar much more successful, but it tends to be bland if you are looking for grain texture and color.

Ken in Juneau
 
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