Hello Friends: I was able to get a real nice tree of red cedar..have never carved any before... can it be carved green? And what would be the best finish ..to keep the color..yet protect if outside? Thanks for your help!!

Red Cedar dust in the lungs is a really bad thing. Otherwise soft, pretty wood. Direct sunlight without a sealer will fade the color fast.

I like to use Scandinavian Tung oil for outside carvings. It is sold at Lowes or HOme Depot, not sure which one.

It is a beautiful wood, but you need to study the log closely
as the bark "folds in" alot. And, it is coarse grained, "splintery",
so it does not hold detail well. For many subjects it works well
to have the outer/lighter wood be something such as a bears nose
and paws, for example. good luck......Gary

We use Red Cedar at the Chetwynd International Championship. It is a good competition wood as it is easy on the saws to carve. Carvers are required to finish their carving up to and including one coat of protective finish. At the competition we use spar varnish with a UV protector. This seas the moisture somewhat in the log and slows down the drying and checkin. A year after the event we re finish them with varathane and they last outside for about 3-4 years before needing re-done. Chetwynd has a web page with some pictures. The site is www.gochetwynd.com I know the pictures are not great but we are working on that. The face book site is visitor1@chetwyndchamber.ca the password is visitor1

Here at the shop, Don only carves red cedar.The dark old growth is his favorite. It sands up nicely.The lighter second is much more available. The finish we use is Ace's Woodroyal natural clear log oil.It has a UV in it also.This product needs to be applied each year. Hope this helps...

The red cedar I and I believe Gary were referring to is eastern red cedar. VERY red. Cedar chest Cedar. The cedar on the left coast is much larger and called western red cedar.

I thought about that after I posted.It was late to take it back...

two coats austrailian timber oil starts lookin dry recoat