# Finishing Aromatic Red Cedar



## Jeff28078 (Aug 27, 2009)

I saw in another forum someone talking about a cedar chest. There were some pictures in the forum of a chest someone had built and it perfectly showed a situation I have. I'm building a small chest of aromatic cedar. I want to finish it but I still want the smell of the cedar to be evident. What finishes, if any, will allow the smell to come through? In the pictures in the other forum only the outside of the chest was finished. But wouldn't that allow for uneven moisture take up by the wood and potential warping?


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## tenontim (Feb 24, 2008)

If you look at cedar chest in the antique stores, you see they weren't finished on the inside. I think that due to the fact that the chest are closed most of the time, and the items in them soak up more moisture than the wood, you don't have any problems with warping. If you're worried about warping, finish the sides and leave the bottom unfinished. If you put anything, other than cedar oil, on the wood, it WILL seal the aroma in the wood, and you'll have an un-aromatic cedar chest.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

I used Minwax Polycrylic on this refinish. I chose the water-based because I didn't want to have the yellowing of an oil-based, it really let the color of the cedar show through. The inside was left unfinished. It went on super easy with a foam brush, builds quickly (I think I did 3 coats), and was easy to wet sand once it had cured. It's been about a year and it still looks great. No issues with warping thus far. I would also recommend that you screw (using slightly oversized holes for movement) supports across the underside of the lid to keep it from cupping/warping, as unlike the sides which are all joined together, it has no reinforcement to keep it flat.










If the smell fades over time, just hit the inside with a sanding block to let the aroma out.


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## eao2012 (Jan 14, 2013)

I made my fiance a jewelry box out of aromatic cedar for her birthday last year and I believe I just used tung oil on the outside and left the inside unfinished.


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## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

You could finish both sides, but it will lose the smell.

If you go that route try this:

Cedar oil


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## Jeff28078 (Aug 27, 2009)

Well I guess like many things I can't have it both ways. I'll finish the outside where everybody can see it so it looks good and leave the inside unfinished so I can enjoy the odor when it's opened. It's a small box so wood movement won't be an issue. Thanks for the comments.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

If the bottom of the box is cedar, you could leave the bottom unfinished on both sides, and you would probably get the smell outside the box, and maybe rough it up with sandpaper once in a while.

BTW, if you're handplaning, or have small cutoffs, save the ribbons of cedar, wrap a bunch of them in cheesecloth, tie it off, and stick them in your closet, sock drawer, etc.


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

I use cedar as a lining in trunks. I leave it unfinished.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Even have a solid Cedar cedar chest. NO finish on the inside..









and the inside


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## Cosmicsniper (Oct 2, 2009)

It's a myth that you must finish both sides of a board, IMO.

Moisture affects wood by humidity. Humidity is a vapor. Finishes are not vapor barriers. Wood will move regardless of the finish. If this were not true, then you could not build a guitar, which is never finished on the inside.


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