Thuja plicata of the family Cupressaceae, the cypress family
The technically correct common name is western redcedar (no space between red and cedar). The wood is soft, light, and somewhat aromatic (but not as much as eastern redcedar) and varies quite a bit in color as you'll see in the pics below.
TOXICITY ALERT Many woods can cause various kinds of bad reactions in some people (there is a toxicity chart linked to on the main page of this site) but western red cedar is the only one I am aware of that can actually CAUSE asthma to develop in people who breath the dust. I don't mean it will happen to everyone who breathes the dust, but it CAN happen so best to wear a mask if you're around the stuff at all.
my samples:
4 small planks and end grain. I was told by my supplier that all 4 of these pieces came from the same tree, but based on the end grain I judge that to be impossible since the first one clearly has a much differnt growth rate than the other three. I think he was just trying to make the point that this wood has a lot of variety in grain and color.
the middle two pieces do a nice job of illustrating the difference between flat cut and rift cut (almost quartersawn).
end grain closeups of the 4 pieces directly above --- colors are a little too dull
sample plank and end grain
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
sample plank and end grain sold to me as Western red cedar / Thuja plicata
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
plank
the vendor from whom I bought this veneer was only able to identify it as cedar, so I am not positive it is western red, but that seems the most likely.
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
western red cedar (Thuja gigantea, also listed as giant cedar and shingle-wood) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views
web pics
a set of planks that give a little of the color variation in this species
planks listed as western red cedar / Thuja plicata
plank listed as canoe cedar / Thuja plicata
planks just listed as western red cedar
planks listed as giant arborvitae / Thuja plicata
long planks (the longest is 10 feet)
pen blanks
veneer listed as western red cedar / Thuja plicata
veneer just listed as western red cedar
picnic table
the western red cedar piece at the front of this bowl pic was taken from the same plank as the 2nd of the 4 small planks shown in the same picture at the top of this page. This is one of the few woods where application of a finishing agent lessens rather than increases the beauty of the wood. The bold separation between early and late growth is muddied by the application of a coat of natural stain. And by the way, the growth rings show a slight edginess that is caused by image reduction and is not present in the enlargement. Speaking of cedar, the thin vertical piece at the left rear that shows both red and cream colors is red aromatic cedar with sapwood.
the small section of the board that was exposed from the inside of the bowl wall shows even worse muddying after the stain was applied
%201%20s50%20q60%20web.jpg)
%202%20s25%20q60%20web.jpg)
%203%20web.jpg)
%204%20web.jpg)
%20web.jpg)
%20(thuja%20plicata)%201%20s50%20q60%20web.jpg)
%20(thuja%20plicata)%202%20web.jpg)
%20(thuja%20plicata)%203%20web.jpg)
%20quartersawn%20bm%20veneer%20s50%20q60%20web.jpg)
