[Alice in Wonderland]

I am slowly getting ready o finish my Red Cedar Bowl ,it is such a beautiful color , I hate to start to put anything on, I know ( from experience) putting B.L.O. on turns it brownish I have no sample to try, I am looking at Waterborne finish what is your experience??
Thanks all
Alice

[Wolf Kiessling]

Originally Posted by Alice in Wonderland

I am slowly getting ready o finish my Red Cedar Bowl ,it is such a beautiful color , I hate to start to put anything on, I know ( from experience) putting B.L.O. on turns it brownish I have no sample to try, I am looking at Waterborne finish what is your experience??
Thanks all
Alice

I'm having the same quandry. I have several red cedar bowls at various stages of completion. The volatiles in red cedar can eat any finish you put on with the exception of wax. However, I am wondering how Deft would stand up to it.........

[AlArchie]

Back in the late 1800's when I was in 7th grade, well it seems that long ago, anyway, our shop teacher had us make small red cedar keepsake chests. We finished them with shellac, 2 or more coats, followed buy a varnish, and that combination did not discolor and since 1956 (really) this combination finish is still in pristeen condition. I don't remember what varnish we used but I believe we use 1/2 lb cut white shellac.

Al

[VAwoodcarver]

I love carving eastern red cedar it carves with such ease and the scent... oh my gosh smells terrific. Is your red cedar eastern or western red cedar?

[Alice in Wonderland]

Hi everybody and thanks
I live in Ontario so it would be Eastern red cedar. I though about chellac ,I must see where I get flakes because the can is finish when opened, yes you are right the smell is perfect, I still cover it with wet towels ,
I finally got this glue for the small cracks ,should I finish sanding first? or can I put it on now?
My husband will ship some Red Cedar ,I put it in to old pantyhose (washed)and hang in into the closets for the Winter perfect moth repellent.
Alice

[Eddy Smiles]

If it's a bowl and is going to contain food then I'd think that you'd want to stick with a food grade oil so as not to make anyone sick.

If it's for display only and if you want it natural, non-darkening, use a water based urethane on it. If you want it to take on the aged yellowed affect then use an oil based urethane or varnish on it. Just remember that when you apply an oil based product it will get darker over time.

[Wolf Kiessling]

Originally Posted by Eddy Smiles

If it's a bowl and is going to contain food then I'd think that you'd want to stick with a food grade oil so as not to make anyone sick.

If it's for display only and if you want it natural, non-darkening, use a water based urethane on it. If you want it to take on the aged yellowed affect then use an oil based urethane or varnish on it. Just remember that when you apply an oil based product it will get darker over time.

I think if you put an oil finish on aromatic cedar, the potential exists that the volatiles will destroy the finish. I have had BLO and TrueOil finishes just devastated in this manner.

Wax will stand up to the volatiles and shellac might also. The Flecto company, whom I contacted about this problem stated that shellac may or may not hold up. As we see in an earlier post, and I have also heard from other people, shellac quite often holds up very well. I suppose it just depends on the wood. The only way to find out is to try it. Problem is, sometimes it takes months to show up.

My personal philosophy regarding this potential problem is that if I make the piece for myself, I am willing to experiment. If I make it for someone else, or just for sale, I will only use wax because I would not want someone to have one of my pieces and two years later end up with a totally destroyed finish....

[AlArchie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac

I'm not a great fan of wikepedia, because it can be edited by anyone, but this seems like a good article on shellac. It is even an edible compound so should be perfectly safe on bowls used for food. Even though this article claims the stuff is quite stable, I find that it gets sticky when I handle finished items, but that may well be due to specific acids in my system. Seems like if the Russians finish stocks of the AK-47's with the stuff, it is a bit more resiliant than my experiences.

The article also states it seals resinous woods, so it should work well on cedar. It is used as a primary sealer on resinous knots in knotty pine, white pine, hemlock, etc.

It comes in "white" and "orange".....the white is almost perfectly clear. Both can be used as primers for most other clear finishes.

Pleaase don't get the idea that I am pushing the use of shellac...personally I don't particularly like the stuff because I break out in a rash if I get it on my hide! but it does work to seal oily woods.

Al

[Alice in Wonderland]

Thank you for your help, I am still sanding and will be for another couple days :-((((, there is sssssssssssssso much of it, but I am feeling fo the waterborne stuff,I have used it before when I did not wanted any color change. Well a few more days and I will decide.
Thanks again
Alice