Frank Fusco
Member
- Messages
- 12,800
- Location
- Mountain Home, Arkansas
After reading Vaughn's sad post about a fatality from a bowl blank exploding and hitting the turner, I got to thinking about turning red cedar.
According to the post the bowl blank was "cedar". It did not specify what kind.
Where I live there is an abundance of red cedar. For turning, I have a real love/hate relationship with it. But, I have stopped using it altogether because of the 'hate' part. Oddly, for a while I made some money selling red cedar to turners in parts of the country that don't have it.
For those who have never tried turning red cedar......it is a very soft, easy to turn wood. That is the 'love' part. But, at the same time, a very brittle wood. Catches can, and usually do, cause breaks/explosions and a destroyed project. If turning the project, like a vase, is successful, it is a very pretty wood.
Red cedar has many tiny knots, any of which can cause a catch and subsequent break/explosion. That is the 'hate' part.
I'll opine that you are more likely to have a failure turning larger items than success. That can be dangerous.
Wondering how many of y'all turn red cedar and what your experiences are with it.
According to the post the bowl blank was "cedar". It did not specify what kind.
Where I live there is an abundance of red cedar. For turning, I have a real love/hate relationship with it. But, I have stopped using it altogether because of the 'hate' part. Oddly, for a while I made some money selling red cedar to turners in parts of the country that don't have it.
For those who have never tried turning red cedar......it is a very soft, easy to turn wood. That is the 'love' part. But, at the same time, a very brittle wood. Catches can, and usually do, cause breaks/explosions and a destroyed project. If turning the project, like a vase, is successful, it is a very pretty wood.
Red cedar has many tiny knots, any of which can cause a catch and subsequent break/explosion. That is the 'hate' part.
I'll opine that you are more likely to have a failure turning larger items than success. That can be dangerous.
Wondering how many of y'all turn red cedar and what your experiences are with it.