Cedar is a living legend for its resistance to moisture, decay and insect damage. Many cedar chests exist today that were made more than 100 years ago. That is not only a testament to the workmanship of the crafters who built them, but to the wood itself. Cedar also has exceptional dimensional stability. It lays flat, stays straight, retains fasteners and provides a firm base for many types of stains and paints. The variations in grain and color make it a beautiful wood to work with, and the items last.

The most surprising thing about Red Cedar (also know as Aromatic Red Cedar) is that it is not a member of the Cedar family at all, instead it belongs to the Juniper family. Everyone knows the deep aromatic smell of the red cedar. The wood is heavy, and naturally insect and rot resistant. Clothes stored in a chest made of red cedar will be protected from moths and other insects. The main reason is that a moth does not want to lay eggs in a place that has the smell of cedar, thus the moth larvae (the ones that do the damage) will not have the opportunity because the eggs will be deposited somewhere else.

Red cedar has tight knots that add character and beauty to anything made from it, as well as a very high contrast sap wood that provides natural color variations. It is sometimes purple, but most often a brownish red that will in time become browner even when preserved. Furniture built with red cedar will last a long time and can definitely be handed down from generation to generation.

When I turn these Aromatic Red Cedar boards into an item, I leave the hidden portions of the items unfinished purposely so the natural aroma will be maintained. It is easy to "refresh" this natural aroma by lightly sanding the unfinished surface with fine sandpaper. For instance, the small air fresheners that I sell can be "rejuvinated" over and over by a light sanding, instead of just throwing them away as you would with the commercial paper and perfume air fresheners.

The wood I use does not come from a big commercial lumber company like those that clear cut entire areas. My source is a family run business, and they cut the tree, they cut the tree up into usable size, and then kiln dry the lumber. A small family operation that pays attention to details and is not as concerned with making a penny as they are in pleasing the customer with a good quality product.

For most of the items I make, I use a good high gloss polyurethane varnish as a finish. Although this finish is slow drying and more difficult to apply than other finishes, it is a long lasting and very durable finish. Commercial furniture manufacturers do not use it because it has such a long drying time and it isn't something that they can just spray on. Even high use items like the light switch cover plates will take years and years of use without showing wear because of the durable finish.

For a few special items, I use an all natural finish. The oil of the Tung tree nut is a completely natural product and it produces the best deep gloss finish. This is very time consuming to apply if done correctly though. The first coat soaks almost entirely into the wood to give the the deep protection desired. Each successive coat is applied only after hand rubbing the previous coat thoroughly. Some items may take up to twelve coats, so counting drying time and hand rubbing it can take weeks just to apply the finish.
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