What thickness boards of aromatic cedar do you all use to line your blanket chests?

Michael,

If I were doing it I would be inclined to use the already milled prepackaged aromatic cedar tongue and groove material. I believe that it is usually 1/4" thk.

TxMoose

 

P.S.

Cedar makes me itchy so the less I need to handle it the better.

Edited September 1, 201610 yr by TxMoose
Added P.S.

Michael,

I just got in some 4/4 aromatic Cedar for the two chests that I am going to build for Christmas

and it only cost me $2.00 per BF, and this is the way to go if I were you.

 

Respectfully,

 

Ralph "Sawdustr"

whatever you do, do not apply a finish to the cedar on the interior....or the whole point of a cedar chest is lost.

Like this?

Inside...vs..outside

Resawn from 2x6s into 3/4 thick boards

Cedar is supposed to ward off moths and such.  I have heard that is an old wives tale.  You could just put some cedar potpourri in the chest and get the same smell. 

I re-sawed some to 1/4" then made an overlap on each side to line a Cherry chest.. 

14 hours ago, DAB said:

whatever you do, do not apply a finish to the cedar on the interior....or the whole point of a cedar chest is lost.

In addition, vapors emitted by aromatic red cedar will soften most finishes.     And if you use polyurethane varnish on the interior it will smell of poly for ages.

Thanks all it seems the default 1/4 is the way to go.  Wives tale or not if it make the spouse happy DO IT!.

I never planned on finishing the cedar in the interior but that also mean it must be smooth and uniform to stops snags.  

I like the 1/4" T & G packages but they often have splits or tongs missing.

The smell is only one thing to consider so the potpourri  still does not make the spouse happy.

I would prefer to use all heart wood if possible but I do not think it is.

Thanks all

 

In July 2014 while my wife and I were on vacation to Indiana to see our son and daughter-in-law who was pregnant, we got together with Ron Dudelston and his wife Dorothy and we all headed down to Florence, Alabama to spend some time together John Moody and his wife Beth. While the girls did their girl stuff, Ron, John and I (mostly Ron and John) built an heirloom cedar lined walnut blanket chest for our soon to be born grand daughter. John Moody has made and sold a number of the blanket chests over the years so he has it down to a science. We did the main part of the construction in Alabama and then transported it up to Ron's shop to finish the trim and cedar lining and then I took it back to my son's house and put on the finish. The chest turned out great, but unfortunately my daughter-in-law had complications with the pregnancy and our grand daughter was born premature at 22 weeks and passed away while we were there. But the kids love the chest and have it all filled.

I did a 4 part post about the process, including the cedar interior, with pics if you are interested.

 

http://thepatriotwoodworker.com/topic/7616-tpw-team-project-part-1/#comment-836

 

http://thepatriotwoodworker.com/topic/7610-tpw-team-project-part-2/#comment-779

 

http://thepatriotwoodworker.com/topic/7604-tpw-team-project-part-3/#comment-730

 

http://thepatriotwoodworker.com/topic/7594-tpw-team-project-part-4-walnut-and-cedar-blanket-chest-completed/#comment-680

Edited September 2, 201610 yr by Allen Worsham

I will give that a DOUBLE THUMBS UP!

That is a beautiful chest.