What is this timber

**wbtonner** · 17th February 2012, 05:11 PM

Hi to all.
This is my first post to the forum and I am pretty new to this woodworking thing.
I have a federation house in Newcastle and have been doing renos for a while.
I am after advice as to what type of timber is used for doors, skirting and ornate trim around the house. I have scrounged a few old doors from around the council pickup and put them through my thicknesser. The timber appears to be of the same sort used throughout my house. My plan is to acquire enough timber to build a window seat in the lounge, plus a few other projects.
The attached pics shows the trim in the house and an example of the door, also some pics of the donor door after being thru the thicknesser.
So I would certainly appreciate any advice from all the knowledgeable ones on the type of this timber.
Cheers Woody

**jimbur** · 17th February 2012, 06:03 PM

Looks like cedar to me.
Cheers,
Jim

**Toymaker Len** · 17th February 2012, 06:25 PM

Western red cedar

**wbtonner** · 17th February 2012, 06:58 PM

FYI
The house is about 100 years old, so the timber is also around this vintage.

**rustynail** · 18th February 2012, 11:19 PM

The three most common timbers for Federation fixouts were Oregon, Western Red Cedar and Red Wood. Most of your photos are Western Red Cedar and one photo of a post looks like oregon. This is not unusual as oregon was often used for structural or hard wearing surfaces as it was somewhat harder than the other two, but having a very similar grain, it married in quite well.

**rush006** · 19th February 2012, 10:25 PM

I think Rustynail is right it looks like a mix of western red cedar and origon. IMO. cheers

**nine fingers** · 20th February 2012, 08:27 AM

Red Pine, Last time I used a new plank was the late 50ies. John.
Sequoia known as Californian Redwood.

**digitalgiraffe** · 20th November 2012, 06:59 PM

How do you tell the difference between Oregon and Cedar? I've collected a fair pile of timber from tip shops and a few of the workers said it was Cedar and others Oregon but it all looks the same to me? Sorry for going off topic here.

**rustynail** · 20th November 2012, 07:11 PM

WRC and oregon are often very similar in appearance. Oregon is harder than WRC. If you try to push your thumbnail int the darker parts of the grain, you will find the cedar soft and the oregon much harder.

**digitalgiraffe** · 20th November 2012, 07:15 PM

Thanks for the quick response rustynail. I've built up quite a stack so hopefully your tip will help me sort it all.

**woodsurfer** · 20th November 2012, 07:25 PM

Hi woody, i just posted a thread on this timber , Western red cedar, as i have a useable quantity i wish to sell. Im not far from you at avoca on the central coast . I worked in carpentry on the west coast U.S.A so these timbers are very familiar to me. W.R.C., Cal redwood , Sequora are closely related species( imagine giant redwoods etc )widely used over there ,and imported here .Douglas Fir , something menzie,(botantical)called oregon here similar,but unlikely to be your joinery specie but was used for joinery,mainly for framing and post and beams.I intend to put my W.R.C.boards up for sale on the forum , let me know if your interested, this was entirely coincidentaland not some sales push, if you have a joinery bloke or skilled chippy this may interest you, cheers Rossco

**Connollys** · 29th November 2012, 12:01 AM

The easiest way to tell if it is cedar is to cut it and smell the fresh cut. If you have ever been in a sauna you will be familiar with the smell. Hope that helps

Cheers

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