2 Questions about Cedar

[Bill McCarthy]

I was hoping someone could explain something to me about buying cedar. Every place around me that sells cedar has what they call 1" x X". It is surfaced on one side and two edges. However, the thickness is 5/8". If I buy pine or poplar that is surfaced on 2 sides and its sold as 1" x X", the thickness is 3/4". Why is cedar different?

I making myself a new storm/screen door. I gluing two of the 1" x 8" cedar boards together, so I come up with a thickness of 1 1/4". I'm using my hand planes (I don't own a power planer) to surface the boards. How smooth do I need to get the rough side if I glue the 2 rough sides together?

I'm taking out the twist and bow but got to thinking if I glue the two rough sides together, I could save some labor, but I don't know if this is a good idea or not. I'm planing on chopping mortises into the area of the glue line. Would I be best off getting the rough side completely smooth or can I be a little lazy?

[Bill Jobe]

I've bought cedar at a sawmill recently that is 8' x 4/4 rough on both sides any width for $5.50/foot.
It's all the red wood....no white, so the look is kinda flat. Kiln dried.

[Andy Nichols]

A lot of it is dimensioned based on it's type/intended use, i.e. Decking, Fencing etc.....

The western red I get here is dimensioned the same as the syp...

Andy

[Hasin Haroon]

Hi Bill,

Question 1 - Honestly don't know why the 1 x 1 would be 5/8...any lumber I buy is usually anywhere from 7/8" to 1 1/8" if it's 1x.

Question 2 - You should joint the edges before you glue up. The rough sides will have undulations that will prevent the glue line from closing at some points, and the glue bond will not be as stable. In addition, you are likely to have visible and ugly glue lines afterwards that will be very hard to clean. If you are chopping mortises in that area that's another reason to get it reasonably planed flat and straight.

[William Fretwell]

I've used Cedar for a few things but the price has become prohibitive for any major projects. If you glue two 8" boards together that's a lot of glue area, even if they are rough. There will be voids however so if you plan on cutting the glued up boards down you will discover them, better to cut them down before glue up and get them flatter. What is easier to plane than cedar? (knots aside!).
Mortise & tenon joinery in cedar would not even be my third choice! Lap joints, splines, and screws would be my first choice. So before you glue up the boards think how you could glue them up as lap joints.
You can do mortise & tenon in a door of course if the cedar is thick enough to resist cracks & splits as the door crashes, yours sounds marginal.

[James Pallas]

I believe the cedar you are seeing is made for exterior siding trim. If you want rough finish you install it rough side out, if you want a finished look you install it smooth side out. You should look for another source if you are going to make a door.
If you can't find cedar get something else, white oak would work well for instance.
Jim

[Mel Fulks]

It's sold more ways than most stuff. And sold kiln dried and air dried.

[Brian Holcombe]

I buy cedar in dimensional lumber and it usually comes oversized IE a 2 x 4 is 2.25" x 4.25".