Even after all of these years, I am still amazed when I surface some rough cut wood and see the amazing grain underneath. Often people will see old rough cut lumber and assume its only use is in the bonfire. That is not always the case. Look at this cedar for instance. On the left is the half I haven’t put through the sander yet. The piece on the right just went through twice. In a matter of seconds it became beautiful furniture grade lumber. Not to mention the woodshop smells amazing right now!

This wood is part of a cedar chest restoration project happening in the shop. Why did we start with what seems to be “old” cedar and not just buy a new piece? If you purchase a piece of rough cut cedar the UV rays that affect its coloring haven’t had a chance to get to the inner fibers yet. When you surface it yourself you are then exposing the entire board to light at once. This allows the coloring to be uniform. Purchasing cedar that has already been surfaced and sat on a rack for some time can cause uneven coloring that can take time to blend.

It is also worth noting that we sanded the cedar chest project to remove the old varnish. Adding new cedar now means the coloring will be very similar between new and old. Eventually they will all even out and look like they’ve been together since it was originally assembled!