finishing cedar

[jdmd]

Hi All,
I have been watching this site for years but this is my first question. I have been rebuilding a cedar chest of drawers that was so bad that the original shellac had turned to powder and disapeared. I decided to use my usual finish - i.e. one coat Floorseal, wipe off, Scandinavian Oil as required. Now that I see it with one coat of oil, I think it deserves something better. The finish of cabinetmakers wax would be good, but can it be sucessfully applied over Scandinavian oil? All suggestions gratefully received.

[munruben]

I had a cedar box once and I french polished it and it came up really well. I have seen some recently finished with Wipe on Poly and it looked great. I'm no expert on finishes but I am sure you will get some very good advice on here.Good luck with your project.:2tsup:

[fletty]

Hi jdmd,
I recently made some tables from australian red cedar and the finish I used was several coats of 50;50 mix boiled linseed oil and mineral turps and then, after letting it 'set' for a few days, I applied 3 or 4 coats of wipe-on-poly (wop) and then polished with wax. If my experience is anything to go by, once the scandinavian oil has set, you should be able to apply wop or wax. Find somewhere discreet and try it.

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f11/secret-project-near-end-journey-119563/index3.html

fletty

[astrid]

If it's nice cedar, I'd start over and use 3-4 coats of shellac and then wax.

[aemhull]

Astrid is right

Cedar deserves traditional love and care - so shellac's the go. Use a pad for the flat surfaces and a very good quality mop brush for any turnings. Apply your shellac, wait 24 hours, cut it back with 000 steelwool, clean off powder with a very lightly oiled cloth and reapply. do this a few times. then a final waxing does the trick. good luck