Aromatic Cedar

[Gary]

What's the group's experience with aromatic cedar. I know it looks great in a pen. I made one for my wife and within two weeks in and out of her purse it looked awfull...full of dents. None of the other pens she has carried and used have looked likt that. Is the cedar maybe just too soft for a practical pen?

 

[its_virgil]

Cedar is very soft and dents easily. Try some type of hard finish like CA, lacquer, polyurathane...maybe the Enduro that is being talked about in other forums. I think CA would be a good choice.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by Gary
<br />What's the group's experience with aromatic cedar. I know it looks great in a pen. I made one for my wife and within two weeks in and out of her purse it looked awfull...full of dents. None of the other pens she has carried and used have looked likt that. Is the cedar maybe just too soft for a practical pen?

 

[Gary]

It had 6 coats of quality lacquer...that's a pretty hard finish. I guess it's the soft wood underneath the finish.

 

[Gregory Huey]

Maybe a BLO/CA finsh would be a liitle tuffer and also the CA should help harden the cedar.

 

[Guest]

Id' try stabilizing with thin CA at 220 and then continuewith your normal finish.
A CA finish would be better though.

 

[DCBluesman]

Eastern (aromatic) cedar is extrememly soft. There's no finish that will change this unless it penetrates throughout the wood. Your best bet is to either have it stabilized or to turn to near size, then saturate with CA and finish turning/finishing.

 

[elody21]

Make a corian pen for her purse. I have had mine for a couple of years so far and it still looks great!

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by DCBluesman
<br />Eastern (aromatic) cedar is extrememly soft. There's no finish that will change this unless it penetrates throughout the wood. Your best bet is to either have it stabilized or to turn to near size, then saturate with CA and finish turning/finishing.

Sorry Lou I know you are the adhesive expert,but after turning the denim pens and seeing how hard the CA makes the cloth barrel I can only believe that it will improve DRASTICALLY the hardness of the cedar.
ANother example is a corn cob pen.
I t also depends on how thick the CA finish is.
I have made some with a finish so thick it appears that you are looking through a piece of glass.
I believe what is important is when the CA is applied.
This initial coat done before the wood is polished and inhibits the wicking action of the thin CA into the wood.
Since the wood is soft to begin with,it will have a greater ability to have the glue penetrate.

 

[patsfan]

In your (Collective) experience, do finishes that protect aromatic cedar also seal in the cedar smell? I have used aromatics in larger items like blanket chests and closet liners, but did not finish them with CA. []

 

[Rifleman1776]

Eastern aromatic cedar is, as stated, indeed very soft and brittle. But it can be attractive and many like to turn it into pens and other items. I am right now trying to sell pen blanks made from Arkansas cedar but the takers are few because it is a soft wood. I am also discussing the possibility of having it stabilized before being sold. Like so many things, it is a matter of personal likes/dislikes.

 

[Gary Max]

Which is harder---corn cob or cedar.
Never heard anyone fuss about corn cobs getting beat up in a purse.

 

[RussFairfield]

Sealing in the smell is the as same as restricting the passage of water vapor through the finish, only in the opposite direction. Generally, the harder the finish, the more restrictive it will be. The least restrictive would be a thin shellac, and the most would be a CA, epoxy, or polyurethane resin finish. That is contrary to what we need for durability.

Best to leave it as bare wood if you want the smell. Even then, oxidation of the natural oils will form a seal at the surface, and it will need to be lightly sanded to renew the aroma. This happens to all aromatic woods, Cedar, Camphor, or whatever.

 

[patsfan]

that was my fear, it seems to defeat the purpose of using aromatic cedar.

 

[Gary]

I think I'll just throw these blanks in the back of the closet as a moth ball substitute. I don't want to coat them with a thick gob of CA then tell people they are wood pens.

 

[btboone]

The gerbils love the pens too. )

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by Gary
<br />I think I'll just throw these blanks in the back of the closet as a moth ball substitute. I don't want to coat them with a thick gob of CA then tell people they are wood pens.

why not?
what type of finish is on your furniture?
Is it all an oil finish?
All Urethanes whether they are water or solvent based are basically plastic of one sort or another.

 

[Gary]

Originally posted by Eaglesc
<br />

Originally posted by Gary
<br />I think I'll just throw these blanks in the back of the closet as a moth ball substitute. I don't want to coat them with a thick gob of CA then tell people they are wood pens.

why not?
what type of finish is on your furniture?
Is it all an oil finish?
All Urethanes whether they are water or solvent based are basically plastic of one sort or another.

I know what finish is on my furniture, I made a lot of it. And I certainly know the composition of urethanes.

I didn't say I was opposed to finishing with a coat of Urethane. I just don't want to lay on a coat of anything, especially cyanoacrylate, that is as you put it "so thick it appears that you are looking through a piece of glass."

 

[DCBluesman]

Gary, I just got some cedar back that I had stabilized. It's very hard, as you might imagine, but the cedar aroma is gone. I have a solution that, based on yesterday's experiment, may do what you want. I turned a Fat-line from a stabilized blank with a non-stabilized center band. I finished it with friction finish and TSW. The cedar aroma is still there. When the center band gets banged about, I will replace it with another. If you want to sell these, you might include an extra center band or two for that very reason. It sure beats giving up on that cedar!

 

[Gary]

Lou, once they are stabilized do they retain the pink to pinkish red of the unstabilized blanks? I have about 50 blanks, and I sure would like to use them.

 

[DCBluesman]

There's no question that the stabilized blanks are darker, but the pinkish hue is still there...at least to these tired old eyes.

 

[Guest]

"I didn't say I was opposed to finishing with a coat of Urethane. I just don't want to lay on a coat of anything, especially cyanoacrylate, that is as you put it "so thick it appears that you are looking through a piece of glass."]

It's not easy easy as you might think nor do I do it to all my pens,
Then again My ca'd pens don't look all banged up after a couple of months either.

 

[tipusnr]

Are we ever going to agree to disagree on finishes?!? This keeps coming up in discussion after discussion. I had to go back and read what the original question was!

Most of the turner's experience seems to be that aromatic cedar (and in my opinion most cedar) is soft and susceptible to a variety of wear and tear issues. It's beautiful wood but needs to be protected (reinforced). How much depends on how it's used before AND AFTER becoming a pen and becomes a personal choice issue whether that person is the penmaker or the pen user.

You know I've spoken before about my finish preferences, however as others have stated, sometimes the harder and thicker finishes are called for. I did my first version of a CA finish last week (on cedar) because the thin slimline my father-in-law wanted didn't leave enough wood for it to hold together without help. Yes, I had my concerns, but they turned out to be four very nice pens that are special to the folks that got them.

I don't know why I have joined in crawling up on my soapbox but I'm getting down now!![xx(]

 

[Guest]

Tip-
That was the point I was trying to make.
Because of the aggrivaton sometimes involved witha CA finish,I wanted to find something duarble,that still had a "wood" feel.
I now use Myland sanding sealer,High build poish and carnauba wax followed up by Presidents coice.
I know it will not last as long as a CA finish but is a durable finish.
I recently was commissioned to make the big "clunky outrageous pen"
It was commissined by a nurse and when she showed me how it was to be used adn how he handled a pen and stuck it in her "SIDE" pocket of her uniform I went the extra mile to do a CA finish rather than a lacquer one.
It took a little more time but because of the abuse adn the expalnation as to why I chose that finish to the customer she was very happy.
My own personal whiting implemnt, a 2 MM power point has no finsih on it other than PC.It is lignum vitae,a hard dense naturally oily wood.
It doesn't need a finish.
I believe you could make a pen out af an egg if you used a CA finish.But
If you make a pen out of an egg and use a lacquer finish and it "shows signs of wear or gets all dented up"like cedar will, what do you expect?