50 Year old cedar

[Steve Eure]

Recently I was given a trailer load of cedar 2x4's from an old house built in 1966. The wood is solid and straight. I began milling the wood to make boxes and small items, etc. and have come to the finishing stage. I want to keep the natural color of the wood but am not sure what to apply. The wood is extremely porous. I was thinking shellac, but not sure. Any suggestions?

[Dave Kelley]

I use shellac as my main finisher for most things that don't require much protection. Even some things that do I still use it I suppose. For this you would want to go with blonde if you want to keep the natural color. Even blonde will darken it a bit of course but any finish likely will. Others will chime in with their favorites. Ask 10 people, get 20 answers on this one.

[Wayne Lomman]

If shellac will give you enough protection, try it on a scrap and see if it looks ok. As Dave said, you will get 20 different answers and most of them will work, so go test your instinct on scrap first. Cheers