Cedar Wood

[Cheechb77]

Hi everyone,

I just have a question about cedar wood, i would like to put something on a piece that i am working on but i've heard that certain glosses makes cedar turn yellow through time. any suggestions on what i can use.

Thank you,

Cheech

[Robson Valley]

Cheech, I'd like to know, too. Just finished 6 carvings with the water-sol Varathane. Darkened the wood and made them all go sort of yellow. That's OK, this time. If they all look yellowed with age, fine. Three more to go, won't finish them until I learn more.

[Eddy-Smiles]

Use a waterbased polyurethane if you want to keep the natural color. Oil based will turn it dark.

[Robson Valley]

Not quite. Water-based Varathane, soap & water cleanup. Never again. I have a fish carved in western red cedar, that fish is truely PINK! I want it to stay that way.

[Eddy-Smiles]

Your Varathane is a Rust-Oleum product. And I'm sure that there are many fans of Rust-Oleum products out there and possibly it's great for home projects but I don't think that I'd recommend them for craft projects because I've never had much luck with a Rust-Oleum product on crafts much less home projects. Instead use a product like Delta Ceramcoat Varnish. It comes in matte, satin, interior and exterior Gloss. It dries clear and does not, I repeat, does not darken the wood. This clock is one of five that I made and finished in interior gloss two to three years ago and as you can see it has not turned at all.

[Dicky]

I have to support Eddy. I have two knife handles both made from the same piece of apple wood. One was finished with Flecto Varethane oil-based clear finish and the other with Flecto Varethane water-based clear finish. The water based is as white as the day it was cut, the other almost orange. People don't believe its the same wood until I turn them over and they can see that the discolored section that was sawn in half during manufacture are identical on each handle.

[Cheechb77]

Thank you all, especially eddy for your wisdom on this topic, i truly appreciate it.

[Paul_Guraedy]

I have had the best luck finishing cedar with tung oil. Sand smooth to at least 400grit. Use a cloth to put on a coat of tung oil. Go over this with 5x steel wool. Go over this with a tack cloth. Add another coat of tung oil followed by steel wool and tack cloth. I do this for at least 5 layers with no steel wool on the final.

The piece shown here (redwood) was finished in about 1982. Nothing done to it since. I submitted an owl (cedar) in a thread called Finishing Techniques (since already submitted, you will have to do a search for this pic). The owl was carved about 1998 and nothing done to it since.

[Paul_Guraedy]

I could not find the thread with the owl so am using a different photo of it.

[Robson Valley]

As above, Flecto Varathane "Crystal Clear Waterborne Diamond Wood Finish" semi-gloss 'Outdoor' (Product #2501-61) made the cedar turn yellow. Must be some chemistry thing fairly exclusive to western red cedar. Will shop for the Delta Ceramcoat the next time I'm in the city.