# Cedar logs



## joshtank (Apr 5, 2010)

My parents have a good sized piece of land with plenty of trees they have planted, apparently one was shading the garden too much, so it got taken out. So my dad and I made it into boards best we could with my craftsman 12" bandsaw and a chainsaw.




























These are pics from the third session of sawing, in total I have a pile about 3x the size picture. some of the sawing wasn't so straight, getting that first face down reference edge to run on the bandsaw table was tough even with who people. that's what you do when the log is it's largest - and heavy.

QUESTIONS.

I painted the ends with latex paint - a few coats. I occasionally run a fan on that in the shop ( i mean plus when I'm in there etc), and sometimes i run my dehumidifier. anything else I should be doing to make sure they dry well and all is good?

and.. what's the best was to square them up when the drying is all said and done. I was thinking handplaning one side ( I only have a very small jointer), so i can run through my planer.. and for the edges, a router and straightedge? maybe bandsaw or circ saw they straight as i can then router for final edge?


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

What's the moisture content? Gotta dry if they're wet, and that gonna take some time (as in a couple years).
I wouldn't try dimensioning until the wood is down to about 8%.
Bill


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## joshtank (Apr 5, 2010)

oh yeah wasn't planning on that. they have been laying outside at least 4 or 5 months. still wet inside when cut. i just painted ends of let em sit. thinking running dehumidifier a lot is good, or will it make them dry too fast and warp a lot / crack?


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## TCCcabinetmaker (Dec 14, 2011)

8-12% per AWI standards.

However, knock the bark off the edges it intruduces the chance for the wood to wrot.

Now to the original questions, Hand planing the edges is certainly an option, it's not a really dense wood, so it wouldn't be too hard, except where the knots are.

If your band saw is big enough, you can build a straight lining jig to rough the wood closer to a straight edge, then hand plane it, or even take it to a tablesaw. Honestly there are a number of ways to flatten boards though, I know if I explained some of them it'd raise some peoples eyebrows really quick though.

You can also occaisionally add blowing a heater on the wood (like a space heater) from a small distance so as to not set things on fire.

P.S as a log it can take several years, some woods may only take several months when resawn. Invest in a moisture meter, they are relatively inexpensive and worth it.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

figure and inch per year to dry, as a general rule.

I have an alaskian mill so I do this quit a bit. My last project was built from self sawn oak. Here is what I do, Clamp it to my bench with the edge overhanging, snap a line and get it close with a skill saw. Joint it (I use my jointer, but hand plane would be fine) and square the other side with the table saw.


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## HerbC (Jul 28, 2010)

Aromatic Eastern Red Cedar is very forgiving regarding drying. It tends to dry quickly and if stacked and stickered properly with adequate natural air flow it will air dry enough to work with in months, not years. Of course the thinner pieces will dry quicker than the thicker pieces.

It's beautiful wood and in many ways a pleasure to work.

Good Luck and

Be Careful!

Herb


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Eastern redcedar dries very fast. 4/4 lumber in your climate will air dry to 12 - 14% in 60 days. The thicker pieces will take about 2 - 3 times longer. I would run the pieces through a thickness planer to create a relatively flat reference face and then plane the pieces. A spiral head planer would do the job.


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## jterry (Aug 29, 2010)

1 year per inch is right for the first 2 inches, but even kiln dried wood greater that 2 is not guaranteed. Takes longer and may never reach uniform dryness. 
I find in the humid south it is best to put a fan on the stack for the first 4 to 6 weeks to prevent mold. Learned by sad experience.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

".......Aromatic Eastern Red Cedar is very forgiving regarding drying. It tends to dry quickly …...." Very true! The saw mill where I buy my red cedar here in Texas tells me it takes just a few days for 1" thick boards to air dry. I find this to be true here in this dry part of Texas. I buy about 35 boards 1"x 8" x 8' at a time all eastern red cedar that grew in Georgia. All plenty dry to use for me.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Yes, 60 days for drying 4/4 cedar is probably conservative.


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## terrilynne (Jun 24, 2010)

These would make great natural edge benches and tables!


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## Sman (Feb 15, 2011)

Isn't cedar the coolest wood, beautiful colors, great smell.

You could always sell it too, I would buy a bowl blank of that for my lathe!


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## wmerritt76 (Dec 15, 2015)

I recently used my chainsaw mill to mill up some red cedar 8/4 http://lumberjocks.com/wmerritt76/blog/75226 here in Louisiana and am now wanting to make some 1/4" veneer out of it to cover some drawer faces. The wood is still relativley wet. If I were to cut off the cedar some veneer being 7"x25"x1/4" and glued it straight to the drawer face would that make a mess once it started drying out??


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