pau…aloha and mahalo!
Hi oneula,
I’ve built a HWB and a kayak from cedar – in those cases, I just wet it out with epoxy and let that soak in and cure prior to glassing. As long as the epoxy will soak into the wood, it’s going to adhere because it’s actually partially “in” the wood. Kayak is 7 years old, and HWB is 1 year old, and I haven’t seen any problems.
In your case, I’d wait until the evening, when it’s starting to get cool, heat the wood up a little bit and roll epoxy on the cedar liberally prior to attaching it – this will help the wood soak up the epoxy. If you’re worried about weight, let it penetrate for a while and then squeegee the rest off before applying the laminate. If you can get slow kicking epoxy, or do this when it’s cool (might be a problem in Hawaii), that will give the epoxy plenty of time to penetrate before it kicks.
I used SystemThree SB-112 for the HWB and West Systems for the kayak – no noticable difference in either case.
Of course, a test patch should resolve any doubts.
Cheers
Quote:
I want desperately to build either a hollow or a compsand using aromatic cedar because like sandalwood I am addicted to the smell.
I would like to build out my rail band from the stuff and then skin my EPS with it like Chris Garrett or build a HWS design using the aromatic cedar as the outside skin and rails with just some oil rub finish.
I was planning on “skinning” my EPS with GG then my 1mm bamboo weave with either a 4oz or 2oz smoothed out glass shell before trying to apply the aromatic cedar to the outside with no exterior glass just some water proofing wood sealant… I’m planning on using this exact same technique with my exotics as well to make donation boards of koa, ebony, tigerwood and walnut…
The problem is the strong cedar smell means oil in the wood and oil means adhesion problems. So what adhesive do I need to use to secure the cedar to the exterior of my bamboo skinned and glassed compsand?
Will regular epoxy work or do I need something like the sticky 3M 5200 marine adhesive or something else?
Also what about the rails?
And does any one know anything about how aromatic cedar hold up to the other cedars that everyone is building their Grain woodies out of…
Maybe regular cedar rail and an aromatic skin
Oh great Wood sages I’m at your beconing call.
No “wood sage” here, but… Some web searching produced no examples of problems gluing aromatic cedar, and several statements that it has “good gluing properties”. Unlikely it would cause serious difficulties in laminating especially as the outside layer, imo. However, I’m not sure that you are going to accomplish what you want, given this quote (things to keep in mind, at least):
"Upkeep
The only care that aromatic cedar needs is a little dusting with a clean dry rag from time to time. If, however, the walls are exposed to light and air, the surfaces will oxidize and the cedar oil will crystallize leaving a sugary residue behind also it will tend to darken.
The remedy is to lightly sand the walls with very fine sandpaper (# 200 or 150) or with extra fine steel wool. Turn the light on in the closet only when needed and try to avoid keeping it on for long periods. And thats about all you need to do to your cedar to get it to protect your clothes for years and years."
-Samiam
Quote:
And does any one know anything about how aromatic cedar hold up to the other cedars that everyone is building their Grain woodies out of… .
I used it on my last HWS using the grainsurfboards/Blundell method and really enjoyed working with it. I just recently had trees milled for use on my next boards. It is lighter than pine, a bit heavier than western red. I read that it has 80 percent the strength of white oak. It is very smooth to work with, sands and planes nicely. One of my favorite woods to work with.
P.S. first post, I’ve been lurking here for sometime over a year.
MmMmMmmm redwood.
In woodshop, there’s a guy that had a cedar chest built out of red juniper (red cedar), and he used PU glue. He was really careful with his glue joints not to spill any outside or inside where you could see the wood. That was last semester, he’s back this semester to build a matching entertainment center . . .
Oneula,
In the custom shop I used to work in, we did a fair amount of work with Teak which has much more oil in it than aromatic cedar. We did all the glue-ups with epoxy and had no problems. Most of the aromatic cedar I’ve seen comes in relatively short boards: 24" - 36". Have you found some longer stuff, or are you going to end-butt the joints?
If you like working with cedar because of the smell, try some camphorwood. It smells like some exotic perfume…very nice.
Doug
Of course when you seal the wood you will lose the smell.
pau…aloha and mahalo!
Aloha Oneula:
Or you could consider using Port Orford Cedar which has an incredibly nice smell and works really well with epoxy AND stands up to a wet environment really well.
I have built a lot of wooden sailboats with this wood and it is an absolute delight to work with and the smell is really intoxicating. In fact, I built a bed frame out of it so that I could go to sleep at night with that sweet smell in my nostrils.
I’m considering doing a HWS balsa board with Port Orford Cedar rail bands.
-Robin