Fruit of the Lathe

Some woods can be quite tricky to tell apart, others are immediately recognizable when you see them: Flame Boxelder, for example, is so distinctive that most woodworkers know it right away.

Of all the woods I've worked with, Red Cedar is in a class of its own: you can tell what it is with your eyes shut. It smells simply wonderful (although some people are allergic to the scent-producing chemicals), and as soon as a saw blade or lathe tool starts cutting into it, the workshop fills with the aroma.

When it's freshly cut, the wood has vibrant swirls of crimson and cream; exposure to light (particularly wavelengths in the UV spectrum) dulls this and both the light and dark shades shift towards a rich brown. Fortunately, the grain patterns remain distinct, and even though it's not as flashy as it once was, the wood retains much of the beautiful figure it started with.

Below and right: Eastern Red Cedar bowl, 10" diameter, about 3.25" high