Sealing on red cedar?

[Tinkerer]

G'day folks,

I'm playing about with a slab of ironbark and a couple of bits of red cedar ...which, after some serious carving will become a musical instrument. The ironbark is like granite and will stain and polish up a treat... but the red cedar is open fibrous stuff... almost balsa-like. Lovely and light though.

What would people suggest about sealing and filling this spongey stuff?

I'm planning to use a very light black stain (transparent) under a wax polish so I'd like to get a solid smooth surface on the cedar if I can.

Many thanks,

Pete

[wisno]

Yes You better apply wood filler to fill in your pores. There are many filler types, but i think you better use the waterbased filler. It easy to be applied on and compatible for most clear coating,


You also better use a catalyzed sealer such as polyurethane to make you film built faster.



Good luck

wisno.

[AnselmFraser]

Hi there!

I, personally, would not stain a fiborous wood such as red cedar, because it's so difficult to get an even colour.

The only exception is black or dark brown because otherwise it goes in patchy. I would therefore advise DARK Black (not LIGHT black).

An alternative to wisno's suggestion could be to use a coat of clear shellac. If you build up enough coats of clear shellac, you may then be able to wash an even spirit-stain over it.

It's quite difficult what you are proposing (IMHO) so I would further suggest trying on a separate piece of wood (both wisno's and mine and see which works best for you).

best,
Anselm