# wood that compliments cedar?



## SouthernWoodworking (Jun 21, 2014)

So, I have some very pretty cedar I found at yard sale. It has deep reds and purples, but I dont have enough of it to finish my project (Gun rack). What wood could I use to complement the cedar? I dont think im going to stain the cedar since it has such a nice color. 


Thanks!


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## maple man (Dec 21, 2012)

SouthernWoodworking said:


> So, I have some very pretty cedar I found at yard sale. It has deep reds and purples, but I dont have enough of it to finish my project (Gun rack). What wood could I use to complement the cedar? I dont think im going to stain the cedar since it has such a nice color. Thanks!


 walnut maybe


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## SouthernWoodworking (Jun 21, 2014)

maple man said:


> walnut maybe


yea I thought about that. Only problem is, I need like a 10in wide piece and my local dealer doesnt have that. :thumbdown:

Would a light wood do well?


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## maple man (Dec 21, 2012)

SouthernWoodworking said:


> yea I thought about that. Only problem is, I need like a 10in wide piece and my local dealer doesnt have that. :thumbdown: Would a light wood do well?


 I would need see a picture before I could tell you if light wood would work and if you need a 10" wide piece buy 2 6" pieces and till you mill them and cut them to final size you could have a 10" piece


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## SouthernWoodworking (Jun 21, 2014)

here is the photo. Id prefer not to use two pieces. Im an ok woodworker but id be hard pressed to hide the glue line.


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## maple man (Dec 21, 2012)

SouthernWoodworking said:


> here is the photo. Id prefer not to use two pieces. Im an ok woodworker but id be hard pressed to hide the glue line.


 I would say since ceder is soft you could use pine maybe even curly or Birdseye maple would look great


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## Anguspapa (May 4, 2013)

SouthernWoodworking said:


> here is the photo. Id prefer not to use two pieces. Im an ok woodworker but id be hard pressed to hide the glue line.


That is very nice would I would be scared to use anything like that. With lots of screwing it up. :|

Thanks, Eric A.KA. Anguspapa


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## SouthernWoodworking (Jun 21, 2014)

If I used pine, should I stain it? Also, how should I finish this whole project? I was thinking either shellac and poly or just poly.


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## Gary Beasley (Jan 21, 2009)

I second the pine, maybe knotty pine. I've done several scrollsaw projects using pine and cedar together and the effect is pleasing.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

I think what wood to go with depends on which theyll be more of. If theres going to be more of the mystery wood than the cedar, id go with something darker, walnut or cherry maybe, but if the cedar is the majority and the mystery wood is an accent id go lighter. Figured maple maybe?


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## SouthernWoodworking (Jun 21, 2014)

epicfail48 said:


> I think what wood to go with depends on which theyll be more of. If theres going to be more of the mystery wood than the cedar, id go with something darker, walnut or cherry maybe, but if the cedar is the majority and the mystery wood is an accent id go lighter. Figured maple maybe?


Their is going to be more Cedar. I think im going to go with pine. Its cheap and I have some I can use. Whats the best finish I could use?


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## maple man (Dec 21, 2012)

SouthernWoodworking said:


> Their is going to be more Cedar. I think im going to go with pine. Its cheap and I have some I can use. Whats the best finish I could use?


 I got a vote for wipe on poly or maybe tung oil would make the ceder look really nice


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

SouthernWoodworking said:


> Their is going to be more Cedar. I think im going to go with pine. Its cheap and I have some I can use. Whats the best finish I could use?


Depends, what's the project going to be? For something high use a wip on poly would work well, but my personal favorite general purpose finish is shellac. Bonus points if you wipe on some BLO before shellacking


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

Cedar is a soft wood and damages easily, finish it with an oil, so you can sand out any damage and just apply a bit more oil.


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## SouthernWoodworking (Jun 21, 2014)

Ok, I have the rough shape cut out but I have a problem. The wood is snapping on the thinnest part. I narrows down to about 1in. How can I brace this? I thought about a hole and dowel but Im not sure.


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## Mbrockman5 (Feb 25, 2013)

When I made my silverware organizer, I was wondering the same thing. I used pieces of "Cedar Closet Liner" for the sides and dividers and Oak for the front & back pieces. 

At first I couldn't decide between Oak or Pine for an accent, so I ended up buying a piece of each and made 2 identical sets, dry fit everything up and made my decision based on which one looked the best.


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## Skotias (Sep 14, 2015)

I'm pretty sure it's too late to comment and make a difference in this project, but a while back when my husband and o were building some stairs, we forgot to account for overlapping in the cutting phase. Needless to say, we had to go back and cut new pieces to make it fit. The stairs were cherry, and we used our last big board, we already had to glue pieces together to make one. It was a huge setback, but we ended up cutting 1in pieces of cedar and tacking that on as well. The end product had no glue lines and the red of the cherry and the reddish pink of the cedar ended up looking gorgeous together. It was a bit unconventional, and his dad thought we were crazy, but he took it all back when he saw the end product. I wish I still had pictures. 
So, in the future, if anyone wants to see a strange, yet amazing mix of wood, try cedar and cherry.


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## BaldEagle2012 (Jan 25, 2012)

I like the cedar you have, the knots add lots of character to the piece. IMO I would use knotty pine to accentuate the cedar. Finish it with shallack for a sealent, then use an oil based poly. 

You mentioned that the piece your working with was splitting in the narrow area. I would increase the thickness on that area to prevent that problem. However, if you don't have the extra cedar to do that, you could use a dowel in that area to help strenghten it, coming in from the side that will not show the dowel and drill in just enough to add the strength but not all the way thru the piece. Just my $.02 worth.


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## grantcarmichael (Aug 22, 2016)

Mbrockman5 said:


> When I made my silverware organizer, I was wondering the same thing. I used pieces of "Cedar Closet Liner" for the sides and dividers and Oak for the front & back pieces.
> 
> At first I couldn't decide between Oak or Pine for an accent, so I ended up buying a piece of each and made 2 identical sets, dry fit everything up and made my decision based on which one looked the best.


That is pretty slick! Nice work.


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

On occasion when I'm buying SPF / Whitewood for a shop project, I'll find some wood with really interesting colors and figure. I just used a piece yesterday on a storage box for my workbench that had a lot of uncharacteristically dark red and brown in it. Something like that might look interesting and match decently well to the red cedar.


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## kyhareraiser (Aug 29, 2017)

if you have a lowes near you they sell cedar ( unfinished ) might try that to finish that gun rack. would be sharp


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