Slab Cedar ?

[big rockpile]

Ok sawmills here are cutting Cedar had piles of Slab going to Shaving Mill.

What I'm thinking get this Slab stuff,Debark it cut it,finish it and use it for Trim.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

big rockpile

[Pelenaka]

Cedar lined storage closets for clothes & the pantry.

Make clothes hangers to sell.

Hopes chests.
Is cedar good for guns? Line a gun cabinet perhaps.


~~ pelenaka ~~

[Surge223]

Lots of uses for cedar, but it may be a little thin seeing how it is the slabs.

Once it is dry, it makes for a great firestarter. Burns fast, but not hot.

[Windy in Kansas]

I'm not familiar with slab wood since we have no sawmills in my area.

Wouldn't the slabs be mainly sap wood with little heartwood? If so, what about the moisture content, would that be a problem for trim?

[texican]

I've been around portable sawmills for almost 20 years now, and got my own back in December.

ERC (eastern red cedar) is a squirrely wood, with lots of waste... all those gnarly bits get 'wasted' if the owner is wanting square stock boards/planks. I've got slabs big enough to make coffee tables. Have stacks of slabs, and always use to pick up any cedar 'stickers' 1"x1" stock that was in the burn pile.

With a slab, run it through the table saw with the flat facing the level saw bed, and make strips, then saw them again, to cut off the ragged edge. If a person needs short pieces, they'd be in heaven.

I haven't cut any ERC yet... do have a dozen or so logs stacked up. Have >3K board feet in the barn already cut.

Key is getting your ERC slabs/flitches for free.

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by Windy in Kansas

I'm not familiar with slab wood since we have no sawmills in my area.

Wouldn't the slabs be mainly sap wood with little heartwood? If so, what about the moisture content, would that be a problem for trim?

Well I have some seasoned Slab Cedar and the bark has came off it but the Sap Wood seems pretty hard unlike other Sap Wood.

This wood is pretty thick but I'm wanting to cut it to where it fits in the corners leaving the rounded bark side showing.

big rockpile

[Oldcountryboy]

I have a friend who built a huge pole barn and used slab cedar wood for the siding. He left all the bark on his. It looks like something you see in a old mountain man movie. I've been collecting some for about 3 years now but every fall/winter I end up cutting it up for fire wood.

[RW kansas hogs]

rockpile it sounds like a good idea to me, Make sure it has dried for a year or more and have at it. I would give my Boars left nut for some slab wood

[Yvonne's hubby]

Cedar slabs are fine for trim work, and I left the bark on for exterior siding on my aframe for several years without any problems at all. After I left the place, the new owners hired me to remove it and put up that cheezy masonite siding, which has long since deteriorated and had to be replaced. I have seen other buildings around here with the cedar slabs put on about the same time I did mine, and they are still holding up fine. Thats been close to thirty years ago. The scraps make excellent cookstove wood, or kindling for the fireplace.

[big rockpile]

We decided on Oak Board and Batten for the outside.Cedar for Porch Post.Found a Nice Panelling for the inside and going with Cedar Slab for Trim.

We was going to go with Cedar to cover inside wall but it would be alot more work Planning and finishing plus it makes the Walls thicker and harder to take down if we ever decide to.

big rockpile

[ronron]

My FIL lived in a town called slab town when he was a boy during the depression... The floors would be slabs with the flat side down walls would be horizontal slabs on the inside tar paper would be the next layer then vertical slabs on the outside... Most of the building would be built from slabs, some log rounds and longer logs would be used for Heavy timbers used for framing. He said "Pa and his older brothers built the whole house out of timbers and slabs all they had to buy were some rolls of tar paper they tore down a half burned house for some windows and nails, his job was straightening nails and sorting them. He was six at the time. interesting what you can do when you have to.

[cab]

All depends on what type of cedar it is....Big difference between incense, eastern white, western red, etc....

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by cab

All depends on what type of cedar it is....Big difference between incense, eastern white, western red, etc....

Its Red Cedar but Sap Wood is couple inches deep but I'm thinking Dry it,Debark and Finish it.

big rockpile

[Cascade Failure]

Originally Posted by texican

Key is getting your ERC slabs/flitches for free.

Key for all money things. Buy low, sell high.