western red cedar and decoys

J

Justin Harrison

Active member
do to the fact i live in a decoy desert, as well as a "good source of local wood" desert, i'm having to do some "settling". shipping white pine or cedar here just isn't conducive to maintaining a decent savings account, SOO i bought a plank of western red cedar - which by the way, if it works out, could be a great thing as it's pretty easy to get and cheap.

in any case, as you can imagine, it's not exactly "clear" or "clean" meaning decent amount of knots in it.......hence, the following question.

say i cut out a bird and there's a not........is this a deal breaker as far as carving, sealing, painting or what? meaning, if a knot is present, is the blank no good?

-justin
 
From my experience it all depends. Is the knot loose? If you have small loose knots you can always drill them out with a forstner bit and glue in a dowel. Larger loose knots would take some creativity to replace. It might be possible to epoxy over a large loose knot to where it doesn't create problems later. I have no experience with large loose knots but have drilled out small ones and replaced them with dowels. Never had a problem with doing this.
 
I usually carve smaller stuff with western red cedar and I can work around knots so I can't answer that but I can give you one tip. Wear a mask. WRC is nasty stuff, not that much wood is really good for you. The first time I carved I didn't have a mask on and I felt like I had the worst hay fever ever. I don't even like to use it any more but like you said it is so easy to get. It does work and I believe a lot of western decoys have been made from it. It does tend to chip a little more in my experience.
Just be careful with it.

Tim
 
Justin I just carved two birds using the same wood. I had some issues with it but only with using TB III to laminated it prior to cutting out. Used three pieces, the top two laminated the bottom removable to hollow. On both birds the TB III did not work and I ended up using my regular RAKA epoxy to laminate it. I did have one large knot in the piece I used on a bottom board. I used a forstner larger than the knot and drilled out 1/2. then I went and drilled out completely and cracks and put in small dowels. I used some warmed epoxy and heat gun to saturate what was not drilled out and then added dust to the epoxy and filled the hole. It carved nicely for me, is light and seemed to splinter no less than good white cedar I have carved before. I did use a respirator type mask while sanding the bird and cutting it out. I did seal with one coat of epoxy first like I do with all of my wood birds before anything else.
 
Try it & see what happens.

I've used it for bodies, but what I used was very clear.

It is a good idea to wear a mask dealing with dust from any cedar - there are almost 40 species worldwide.. Mahogonies are in that category too. Cedar is resistant to insects because it is toxic. And any sawdust isn't the best thing for your lungs.
 
If the Knots are small do as suggested above, drill out and carve a plug.

Any sources of Cypres down your way? I have carved some and it worked nicely.
 
If I can't cut the blanks out around the knots, then I will try to locate them in a spot where they won't interfere with the carving too much. If you do have knots showing on the decoys, make sure that you seal them well. They will bleed through paint. And be careful with the dust, I've also heard that it's bad to breath.
 
You will need very sharp tools for the red cedar. If you sand and grind a respirator is a must. Even with a respirator, while sanding my eyes would start to burn a bit. Good cross ventilation helps.
 
thanks everyone.....sounds like this very well may be yet another lesson learned the hard way.

i've worked it turning some duck calls for timber hunting, and completely understand what you guys are saying about the respirator....stuff can be tough on you. other than the bandsaw and sanding (if i make it that far along) i'll be using hand tools.

jode, i think i can get ahold of cypress just as easily as red cedar, so i'll give that a try too........only reason i haven't up to this point, was reading some mixed reviews on it on various carving forums. but, i'll try anything if it means a good supply of wood close by.

thanks, justin
 
Justin, I had nice soft cypress clear of heartwood. In my opinion it was very close to Cedar.

One of my favorite woods is Paulownia, (cottonwood in Va. and Eastern shore, not the same as the plain states cottonwood)
but it is impossible to get unless you know the tree ID and a local source. I was lucky to score some big logs recently, but will need to have them band milled etc. on my own..........

Cypress, like most carving lumber it's all about knowing what your looking for while you are digging through the lumber pile.
 
every reputable major dealer of tupelo in the US is within a 3 hour drive from you.
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get back to me on that whole 3 hr drive bit when you and the misses start having kids............dude, i gotta schedule a week in advance for a few minutes on the toilet.

justin
 
............dude, i gotta schedule a week in advance for a few minutes on the toilet.
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Then you will need to do what I did, build my OWN bathroom. MINE MINE MINE,,, no girls allowed. (I had two daughters.) :>) :>)
 
............dude, i gotta schedule a week in advance for a few minutes on the toilet.
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Then you will need to do what I did, build my OWN bathroom. MINE MINE MINE,,, no girls allowed. (I had two daughters.) :>) :>)
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HAHAHAHAHAA.....

got one, and at 15 months, she is a handful.........right now, we're learning how to say "please" and "thank you"....it's real REAL cute when she does it, but when she gets hardheaded, man o' man. gonna be a looooong ride.

last night my wife told me she was starting to get the urge for another one........
 
Paulownia is what we call princess tree down here.
They are not native and were planted for ornamental trees and there was a push to start a lumber industry around them at one time.
They grow really fast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia

You can find them at a lot of old home sites, farms, etc.., around the southeast & gulf coast
There is one 1 block from our house.
 
This place is not far from my inlaws
http://www.worldpaulownia.com/html/tech.html

I got a few pieces and gave them to Scott Klecka and maybe Jason Russel or Kyle Thompson. I do not know if they used any but it seemed very light. The guy had a few decoys that had been carved from the wood and they looked real nice. It is cheap relative to tupelo for bodies.
 
It really is an excellent wood. The list of its characteristics is like a "laundry list" of what you wants as a carver. I like how well it air drys and being a deciduous hardwood you don't have any sap issues to deal with that warrant using a kiln.

I had an old carver give me a few boards about 10 years ago and said it was the best wood he ever carved. You just have to know how to deal with the grain rings and open cell structure.
 
If the Knots are small do as suggested above, drill out and carve a plug.

Any sources of Cypres down your way? I have carved some and it worked nicely.
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Jode, not sure if you are reffering to cypress "nay" (hehe); but most old water towers were made of cypress, and the wood is large enough for making bodies, however it takes forever to get moisture levels down. Next time I"ll have it it kiln dried.
 
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