Hello!

 

I have purchased two cedar mailbox posts. My plan was to sand them down, stain them, then put them up.  Here is my dilemma. I dont know lick about cedar. These posts were super rough and had these holes in them. The holey parts didnt sand down the way I wanted, so I filled them with wood filler. I also filled the nail holes and a few other areas. Bad idea as even though it says its "stainable" filler is truely is not. So now I have a post with the filler looking bad. What can I do at this point? 

 

When I first got them, I wondered if they should be or needed to be cut down to get some of the roughness off (or something done other than sanding them). We have cedar in the house and it looks nothing like this mailbox post. Didnt see where I could include photos. Only links. 

You can post pictures from you phone or computer using the add files option at the bottom of the window where you posted the question. 
 

There’s a tutorial for that. I’ll find it for you 

Well, there used to be a tutorial. 
 

give me a little bit and I will put something together 

Ok I got the photos. The first 3 are the stained post. It is a little tan color as I started sanding a bit. The last two are the other post to show was it looked like pre sanding adding any filler. 

 

I found a YT video and a guy had a cedar post that he was making into a mailbox post and it was smooth. So I have a feeling this is just a bad piece of wood, but like I said I know nothing about cedar.

 

I got these on clearance. I can take the other one back if needed, but it wont match the other one Ive stained if I get new wood and build it outselves.

 

Thanks.

Edited March 29, 20251 yr by randomthoughts
adding info

I am guessing the YouTube guy either bought finished posts or ran the rough ones through a planer to get a nice surface. 

Maybe. So a planer may work? Its one thought I had. David Di Bona. Building a Lifetime Mailbox Post Out of Cedar.

Edited March 29, 20251 yr by randomthoughts

There are several species of cedar. White cedar is often used for posts because it is rot resistant. For posts, rough surfaces aren’t particularly objectionable 

You could definitely plane the pieces 

Well, an 8' 4x4 ceder post for $48, doesnt sound good at all. I got the ones I got for $12. lol 

 

I'll definately look into getting it sent through a planer. Im usually one to not like rough surfaces, but I figured if it was a little less rough than this after sanding, all would be ok. I just wanted the really rough ends gone and looking somewhat nice. It will be outside and I just wanted something nice to look at. 

 

Thanks for the help. 

 

 

No problem and welcome to the Patriot!

FYI, in another thread about cedar, it was noted that the saw/sanding dust is toxic.  Be careful.

Just a thought---- maybe try adding the stain to the filler BEFORE you apply the filler. That way you can experiment with the color/tone of the filler and as a bonus the color will be continuous throughout the filler.

 

Personally, if it was me , I wouldn't go crazy  over the roughness of the post---the environment will wreck havoc on it over time.  

On 3/28/2025 at 8:12 PM, lew said:

I am guessing the YouTube guy either bought finished posts or ran the rough ones through a planer to get a nice surface. 

Just for clarity a Jointer then a thickness planer. Unless you mean a No 4 or 3 or 2 Jointer plane?

Edited April 10, 20251 yr by Michael Thuman