[Woodcarver] red cedar

[maricha]

george. excellent email. quite email creative too. 
thanks
cheers
maricha
  Sylda



    ............ We cut down a cedar tree (in Kansas) and
    are in the process of cutting out a cedar hedge. There is quite a bit of
    "carving sized" wood in both; is it worth keeping? 


  Yes ! ! ! Definitely ! ! !


    How long does it take to
    dry? Can it be cut fresh? 


  Cedar is peculiar in that the heart wood (red) can be used without "curing"
  just as it comes from the tree. It does not seem to shrink or to absorb
  moisture as it ages. The slip of wood that goes into the mouthpiece of
  fipple pipes (like the penny whistle and the recorder) is a red cedar because
  it does NOT absorb water which would narrow the wind channel and change the
  blowing characteristics.


    What is the best method of drying? 


  We had a lot of cedar come down during hurricane Isobel in Sep 2003. Some of
  these trees were VERY large. I collected quite a bit of it. My process for
  drying was to cut the block to each side of the center. These two pieces
  then sharp corners cut off -- these two pieces are the wainscotting pieces.
  The remaining piece, still containing the heart, was then cut to each side of 
  the center. The two pieces on each side are the quartersawn pieces. If our 
  web master would allow a picture, I would draw one that would better show what 
  I mean -- the best that I can do is - - - 

  **** v-------the "sharp point"
  *--| |--*
  heart * |--| *
  ------------* | * <-- wainscotting
  * |--| *
  *--| |--*
  ****
  ^--- Quartersawn


  The quartersawn and wainscotting pieces are saved, the rest is thrown away --
  the heart because it rarely ever cures without cracking. The "sharp point" 
  pieces are removed for two reasons -- 1) it is desireable to reduce the overall 
  curvature from one side of the sawn block to the other because wood changes
  dimension radially and tangentially and these stresses are minimized if
  the radius and the tangent are nearly perpendicular to one another. The difference
  in tangent with these two "sharp points" present is very large as compared with
  them removed and 2) they are generally too small to be useable (BUT I generally
  save them on the off chance that they can be used).

  It would be best to paint the ends with almost anything available from 
  latex paint to molten wax. 

  This method is one that I found in a very old book -- "Harvesting Wood for the Artist".


    So far we
    have just stacked it in as large of pieces as we could cut it down in? This
    wood when freshly cut is light colored about 1/3 all the way around and then
    very reddish 2/3 of the wood in the center.


  That description clearly identifies the wood as eastern red cedar and maybe up
  to about a foot in diameter.

  The white sapwood and the red heart wood both carve about the same. Red cedar
  tends to be brittle and a little splintery and somewhat harder than basswood.
  It carves clean with a sharp knife and is capable of fairly decent detail if
  done carefully. It will NOT take prying to get a chip off.

  Hope this helps

  Happiness is a tall boat and breeze to fill her sails
  Have a good day
  http://none332.home.mchsi.com
  George



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