Has anyone used cedar to build their wooden items out of. I going to build a tresle and balsm wood is expensive and hard to find. Cedar is very cheat. I was wondering if anyone has used cedar and the experince they hade with it and some pic of the item you built. Or recomend something cheaper and just as good.
Most modelers use basswood, but it isn’t cheaper than balsa wood.
Bob Boudreau
The only thing about Basswood, like Balsa wood, it’s wise to seal it before you paint it. It can suck up an unbelievable amount of paint.
I guess you wouldn’t have to worry about insect damage with ceder. What form does the ceder you buy come in? Sheets and/or sticks?
I have done a lot of carving from cedar stock and it works well. I have modeled a little and it is nice. It is not as fine grained as basswood and does not paint well, though it stains wonderfully. It is difficult to get small pieces smooth, it tends to be fuzzy. It can be done, but takes extra work.
how about redwood
The grain on redwood is very coarse and it splits quite easily. I certainly would not buy any. I tried a little I had left from a job when I built my bench work, but it split too much to be of use. Its grain structure I would not think would be of use for scale lumber.
I have built a couple of trestles from Balsa wood, it is eaiser to work with and really it’s not that expensive. If you have a Hobby Lobby around town they always have a good supply. I think that Balsa is your best bet to work with.
Well you’ve heard of “Straight as an Arrow” wood shaft is cedar.
Cedar is very soft but has uniform grain. If you use cedar, use western red cedar, white cedar is not as stable in grain.
Although it glues well, make sure the wood is well seasoned. The very reason insects won’t touch it can affect glue bonds. The sap/ tanic acid will affect glueing if not. If modeling HO or N, some of the very small pieces needed may be too weak even with the graining of the cedar. Basswood is really the material to use for scale lumber. I like Northeast Scale for projects, Just like grabbing stock from a miniature lumber yard.
Bob K.
I have used very thin cedar wrappings from expen$ive cigars to cut into individual shingles to shingle N scale roofs.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kennethanthony/acn.jpg
(Note: this is on old Railimages, to be deleted shortly…)
Most hobby shops carry basswood, as do craft shops, Home Depots and Kent Building supplies. They sell it in indivdual pieces, which again isn’t overly cheap. If you do want to use cedar, how would you cut it into small pieces required?
Bob Boudreau
If you got any Buddys on the west coast to send you some Alaska yellow cedar is great for carving. But, Where you’re at I’d go for basswood also called limewood if your English enough. Red cedar runs hard and soft and splits easily if your tryin to do fine work. If you’re chainsaw carving, which I doubt ,its great.
I agree with Bob K. it isn’t “glue friendly”. Franklin makes a titebond three that is an exterior grade and waterproof that will work with cedar but I’ve never seen it in a retail store before. We buy it through our industrial supplier for work, no idea on $$$.
Guy
thanks for all he reply’s
I have a friend who owns a mill and can get all kinds of cedar for free. that is why I wanted to try edar. I’m going to try some samples first before i do anything major.
Please let us know how it works out and the best ways you found to cut scale lumber from the boards. I plan to try cutting some walnut scrap for the large trestle that is in the future some place. I don’t know how that will go either.
I had some cherry left over from cribs made and made a 4 foot bridge with it. The strength to weight ratio is great. Straight grained hard but not too hard,resistant to splitting,and glues well. The cedar I’ve worked with is soft and has a lower strength to weight ratio which plays in when making a “beam” to be strong but not disproportionally large.
Jim
For those that are looking for a safe method of cutting scale lumber on a standard shop table saw, I have a way that should work for you. Cutting very small strips between fence and blade usually will not work. the wood is so fragile it vibrates w/o any surface under it because of the slot in the throat plate(blade plate on the saw deck). To eliminate this I do the cut off method. Dress the stock by making a couple of passes(each edge) to true up the wood, then move the fence over the exact amount of the thickness needed. The next cut produces the piece needed as the cut off. Any ripped stock needs to be at least the length of the table. Whenever ripping any small stock regardless of how small the piece needed, you should rip a length at least as long as the table. For cutting the next piece lay the first one against the fence and rip the board again. each time you place the cut off for the next rip. This works for about 6-10 pieces before having to setup again. I have better luck with ripping this way on a shop saw than on a Micro Mark. You do need a fair quality tool and a decent 80T carbide blade. For most soft woods a plywood blade will also do a good job. For very thin cuts a jig would most likely produce the best results.
Bob K. cutting wood all day long.
With a table saw. http://www.2guyz.info/Content/pid=45/page=1.html or a knife. http://www.2guyz.info/Content/pa=showpage/pid=53.html
Seems to me owning and using a table saw skillfully with a special blade and cutting your own stripwood would not be considered “inexpensive”, which is what the original poster was looking for.
Basswood is used in our hobby because it is fine grained, cuts easily, and takes glue and stains well. Trying to save a few bucks using almost anything else will end up either costing more in the long run or will not work as well as basswood. It’s as simple as that.
Bob Boudreau
Thanks Bob, in using the cutoff to position the next piece, you do not account for the kerf. I assume you also need a kerf sized insert for each successive cut. I am also assuming that I need the board at the proper thinkness before I start cutting individual strips of scale lumber.
As Bob says, this is far and away the most expensive way unless you already have the saw, the blade and the wood and don’t count the time or the electricity. I figure I will spend almost as much time cutting the lumber as building the trestle. If I had to buy the wood, it would cost more than the scale lumber at the LHS. I also assume that well over half the wood will end up as saw dust, which I will use in scenery.