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Red Western Cedar Lumber Profile
 
Red Western Cedar, canoe cedar or shinglewood is found along the US Pacific coast up to Alaska, Idaho, Montana as well as Canada.  The state of Washington is the big producer of the wood. 
 
Red Western Cedar heartwood is naturally resistant to deterioration from UV sunlight, insects and moisture.  The wood is lightweight, moderately soft, has low strength when used as beams and is low in shock resistance.  The wood has a straight variable grain pattern and the texture is coarse.  The wood is not very dense and is prone to splintering and tear out.
 
How about appearance?  The white sapwood of the tree is very narrow and very little is seen in the lumber.  The large heartwood is reddish brown.  We use the moderately priced number 2 grade for our Adirondack furniture.  It has good color and knots typical of Pine boards.  It makes more sense to work around any large knots than to use the very costly number one grade. The color, texture and resistance of the two grades are the same.
 
Overall opinion: Red Western Cedar machines easily and is very durable.  It stains well and has pretty color.  To prevent splintering and end tearout pre-drilling is recommended.  The cost is moderate for the number 2 grade, but very high for the number one grade.  The biggest difference between them is the number of knots which can be somewhat worked around.  The wood is lightweight, but not as sturdy as some of the other woods we use.  Red Western Cedar requires no finish and will turn a rustic silver gray as it weathers.  Or you can stain it every 12 to 18 months to maintain the natural brown color.  Makes durable rustic looking furniture that will withstand the outdoors for many years.
 
Other Wood Profiles:
 
Performance of Red Western Cedar
 
  Wood Classification------------------Softwood
  Outdoor durability(without paint)---Excellent
  Screw /nail holding capacity-----------Fair
  Resistance to indentation--------Moderately Soft
  Heaviness(dry weight)-----------------Light
  Board strength(bending)------------Fair to Low
  Paint holding capacity------------------Fair
  Freedom from shrinkage---------------High
  Freedom from warping-----------------High
  Freedom from resin---------------------High
  Color when new--------------------Reddish Brown
  Color weathered------------------------Gray
  Price----------------------------------Moderate
 
 

Red Western Cedar Wood