Eastern Red Cedar - Aromatic Cedar Eastern Red Cedar or "aromatic" Cedar are one and the same and have the species name - Juniperus Virgiania. This cedar should not be confused with western red cedar which is a completely different species. Aromatic red cedar heartwood is generally a beautiful salmon pink which ages to reddish brown. Some of our Texas Eastern Red Cedar is also known as "Purple Heart Cedar" due to the dramatic purple color of the Heartwood. Unfortunately - both the lovely heartwood colors, the salmon pink and purple, eventually fade to reddish brown. The sapwood is a creamy white; it also changes color with time; the final color is generally a light tan. Eastern Red Cedar is widely distributed throughout the eastern United States and is cut and milled for flooring, paneling, fencing, cedar chest or decking. Here in Texas, Cedar is primarily used for fenceposts, but we feel that is attractive enough to offer for your woodturning. You can see examples of various bowls and vessels turned from Cedar and other "exotic" Texas woods on my companion website, www.prairiesend.com. As elsewhere, the dimensions given below are Length x Width x Depth of the blank. Theoretically these numbers indicate the dimensions of the largest bowl, box/goblet or spindle that might be turned from that piece if no flaws are encountered. The approximate weight (in pounds) as well as obvious physical features (checks, etc) are also indicated. Note also that most of these are rough cut. I do not have the time or equipment to routinely surface the cut sides - although sometimes I think that the grain is interesting enough that I will take it to the jointer before I take the photo. NEWEST LISTINGS, as of 7-14-2011 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 204 6" x 6" x 4" 2-1/2 lbs. This is another nice (and deeper) square bowl blank of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is also the variety locally known as Purple Heart, with a deep reddish purple heartwood and a small area of nicely contrasting cream to beige colored sapwood. This block was cut from the inner portion of the log and the pith is present on the very edge of one side (left side, top and bottom photos). There are several very thin pith-related cracks and drying checks that are too small to be visible on the photos. I would just reinforce those small cracks with thin CA glue before turning. I see no other cracks or significant flaws in this piece. Sold Aromatic red Cedar lot 204 $12.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 205 6" x 6" x 4" 2-1/2 lbs. This is another nice (and deeper) square bowl blank of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is also the variety locally known as Purple Heart, with a deep reddish purple heartwood and a small area of nicely contrasting cream to beige colored sapwood along one edge. There are a couple of Cedar knots scattered throughout the blank. This block was cut from the inner portion of the log and the pith is present on the very edge of one side (near side, top and bottom photos). There are several very thin pith-related cracks and drying checks that are generally too small to be visible on the photos (No - those dark stripes in the end-grain faces are not cracks - they are the trails of juvenile branches radiating out from the original center of the log). I would reinforce those small cracks with thin CA glue before turning. I see no other cracks or significant flaws in this piece. Sold Aromatic red Cedar lot 205 $12.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 206 3" x 3" x 7-1/4" 1-1/2 lbs. This is a nice square-section, end-grain block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is the Purple Heart variety - essentially all deep reddish-purple heartwood. There are several Cedar knots scattered throughout the blank, one of which is fairly large. The pith of the log passes thru one edge of this blank. There is one small and thin radial crack associated with that pith (visible on the end-grain face and left side, top photo). Most, if not all, of that crack will turn off as the blank is rounded. I see no other cracks or obvious flaws. Sold Aromatic red Cedar lot 206 $10.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 207 2-3/4" x 2-3/4" x 7-1/2" 1-1/4 lbs. This is another nice square-section, end-grain block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is the Purple Heart variety - a deep reddish-purple heartwood with a small portion of contrasting cream to beige colored sapwood along one edge. There is one prominent Cedar knot on one face and another on one edge. This blank was cut completely away from the pith of the log and I see no pith-related cracks. There is one prominent drying check in that sapwood section, as well as two very thin and apparently shallow drying checks in the annotated face (top photo). Most, if not all, of those checks will turn off as the blank is rounded. I see no other cracks or obvious flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 207 $10.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 208 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" x 7-1/2" 1 lbs. This is a beautifully-figured, square-section, end-grain block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is entirely the deep reddish-purple heartwood of Texas "Purple Heart". That attractive grain pattern appears to be related to a nearby crotch - part of a flame or feather figure. This blank was cut completely away from the main pith of the log but the pith of a large secondary limb crosses through the blanks and results in a very large knot. There are several thin, radial cracks associated with that secondary pith that may be fairly deep (upper left side, bottom photo). However, that grain pattern is so attractive that I wouldn't hesitate to reinforce/fill those cracks and give it a try! I see no other obvious flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 208 $10.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 210 2-1/4" x 2-1/4" x 13-1/4" 1-1/2 lbs. This is a nice square-section, end-grain block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is the Purple Heart variety - essentially all deep reddish-purple heartwood. There are several Cedar knots scattered throughout the blank. It was cut well clear of the main pith of the log and exhibits no pith-related cracks. There is one small and tight drying check in one end (end-grain face, top photo, but too small to see). I see no other cracks or obvious flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 210 $12.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 211 2" x 2" x 12-1/4" 1-1/4 lbs. This is another very attractive, square-section, end-grain block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is the Purple Heart variety - essentially all deep reddish-purple heartwood - but with a number of narrow stripes of beige, sapwood-color (included sapwood??). There are two Cedar knots - one small open one on one edge and one large tight on , both visible on the left side, top photo. It was cut well clear of the main pith of the log and exhibits no pith-related cracks. However, there are two small and tight drying checks in one end (end-grain face, bottom photo, but too small to see). These appear to extend no more than 3/4" into the top end of the blank. I see no other cracks or obvious flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 211 $14.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 213 2" x 2" x 13-1/4" 1-1/4 lbs. This is another nice square-section, end-grain block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is the Purple Heart variety - essentially all deep reddish-purple heartwood - but with several narrow stripes of beige, sapwood-color (included sapwood??) at one end (closest portion of the left side, top photo). There are several small Cedar knots. It was cut well clear of the main pith of the log and exhibits no pith-related cracks. However, there is one small and tight drying check in one end (top photo, left side, far end). This extends 2-1/2" down the blank from that end, and extends into the blank about 5/8". I would reinforce, and fill if necessary, with CA glue before turning. I see no other cracks or obvious flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 213 $12.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 214 2" x 2" x 11-3/4" 1 lb. This is another nice square-section, end-grain block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is entirely a deep reddish-purple heartwood of our Texas Purple Heart variety. There is one prominent Cedar knot on one edge and a matching pair on opposide faces (an enclosed juvenile branch). This blank was cut completely away from the pith of the log and I see no pith-related cracks. I also see no drying checks or other obvious flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 207 $12.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 215 2" x 2" x 11-1/2" 1 lb. This is another nice square-section, end-grain block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. The colors include the deep reddish-purple heartwood of our Texas Purple Heart variety and the contrasting cream to beige colored Cedar sapwood. There is one small Cedar knot on one edge that will turn off as the blank is rounded. There are four small borer holes in the sapwood along one edge. These do not appear to be deep and most will turn off as the blank is rounded. I see no cracks, checks or other obvious flaws. Sold Aromatic red Cedar lot 215 $12.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 216 2" x 2" x 12-1/4" 1 lb. This is another nice square-section, end-grain block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. The colors include the deep reddish-purple heartwood of our Texas Purple Heart variety and the contrasting cream to beige colored Cedar sapwood. There are three small Cedar knots, all of which are located on the edges and should turn off as the blank is rounded. There is a single small and very tight drying check on one end (not visible in the photos). I see no other flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 216 $12.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 217 2" x 2" x 11-1/2" 3/4 lb. This is another nice square-section, end-grain block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. The colors include the deep reddish-purple heartwood of our Texas Purple Heart variety and the contrasting cream to beige colored Cedar sapwood. There is one small Cedar knot (top photo). There is a single long and very tight drying check in the sapwood on one end (not visible in the photos). I see no other flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 217 $12.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 218 2" x 2" x 11-1/2" 3/4 lb. This is another nice square-section, end-grain block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. The color is 99% deep reddish-purple heartwood of our Texas Purple Heart variety. There is a single long and very tight drying check in the sapwood on one end (not visible in the photos). It appears to be very shallow and should be no problem. I see no other flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 218 $12.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 220 1-3/4" x 1-3/4" x 6-3/8" 1/2 lb. This is another nice small but highly-figured block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. The color is mainly the deep reddish-purple heartwood of our Texas Purple Heart variety but with a patch of the contrasting cream to beige-colored sapwood on one end. There are several small and very tight drying checks (most not readily visible in the photos; the longer one is visible on the upper face in the bottom photo). They appear to be very shallow ... I would simply reinforce them with thin CA glue before turning. I see no other flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 220 $8.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 221 1-3/4" x 1-3/4" x 12-3/4" 3/4 lb. This is an interesting end-grain block of Eastern Red Cedar. The color includes the deep reddish-purple heartwood and cream to beige-colored sapwood of Purple Heart Cedar, along with a section of darker brown Cedar bark on one edge. Most of the bark will turn off as the blank is rounded. There are absolutely no cracks or drying checks in this block. However, there are a number of small borer holes in the sapwood and one (visible in the end-grain end on the bottom photo) appears to be quite deep. These provide an opportunity for some colorful infill if desired. I see no other flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 221 $10.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 222 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 13-1/4" 1/2 lb. This is another interesting end-grain block of Eastern Red Cedar. The colors are approximately 50/50 deep reddish-purple heartwood and cream to beige-colored sapwood of Purple Heart Cedar. There is also a thin strip of darker brown Cedar bark on one edge. All of that bark will turn off as the blank is rounded. Again, there are absolutely no cracks or drying checks in this block. However, there are a number of small borer holes in the sapwood. Those that remain after roughing-out would provide another opportunity for some colorful infill. I see no other flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 222 $8.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 223 1-1/4" x 2" x 13" 3/4 lb. This is a nice rectangular block of Eastern Red Cedar. It is mostly deep reddish-purple heartwood with a thin strip of cream to beige-colored sapwood on one edge. There two long, very thin and likely quite shallow drying checks in the sapwood. I see no other flaws. Aromatic red Cedar lot 223 $10.00 END OF NEWEST LISTINGS click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 159 6" x 6" x 3" 2 lbs. This is another nice square bowl blank of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar, the variety locally known as Purple Heart. The colors are a deep reddish purple heartwood and a nicely contrasting cream to beige colored sapwood. The pith is present on one edge but it is tight and sound, and includes several attractive, tight knots. I see no significant cracks or other structural weaknesses in this piece. There is an old area of "included" bark on one corner of the back side (bottom photo). That bark was decayed and dropped out when the piece was cut, leaving a prominent hole. Being so close to the corner, I expect that that area will turn off completely as the blank is rounded, regardless of which side is chosen as the top of the bowl. Of course, if the annotated side is the top - there is no doubt that that area will be removed. SOLD Aromatic red Cedar lot 159 $10.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 164 5" x 5" x 3" 1-1/2 lbs. This is a very nice small, square bowl blank of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is the variety locally known as Purple Heart, with a deep purple heartwood and a small area of nicely contrasting cream to beige colored sapwood. There is no pith within this piece. There are two thin and tight drying checks in the sapwood face (bottom photo, left side, but so thin as to not be visible in the photo). I would reinforce these with CA glue and turn away. I see no other significant cracks or structural flaws in this piece. Aromatic red Cedar lot 164 $7.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Eastern Red Cedar lot 186 6" x 6" x 3-1/2" 2-1/2 lbs. This is a beautiful square bowl blank in aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It was cut from the area of a major crotch - the swirling grain pattern is very nice and includes some "feather" or "flame figure" and a considerable amount on chatoyance on the backside. The colors are primarily the salmon-pink of Cedar heartwood with some contrasting cream to beige colored sapwood along a sharply undulating boundary in one corner. Again, please excuse the blotchy colors on portions of the faces and end-grain sides - I mistakenly wax sealed (Anchorseal) the blank before photographing it. This blank was cut close to but away from the pith of the log and does not appear to include any pith-related cracks. There is a large bark-lined gap on one corner - a portion of the barky crotch gap I believe. That will turn off immediately as the blank is roughed to round. I see no other significant cracks or flaws in this piece. Sold Aromatic Eastern Red Cedar lot 186 $10.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Eastern Red Cedar lot 187 5" x 5" x 3" 1-1/2 lbs. This is another very nice small, square bowl blank of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is primarily salmon-pink heartwood with some contrasting cream to beige colored sapwood on one edge. Please excuse the blotchy colors on the faces and end-grain sides - I mistakenly wax sealed (Anchorseal) the blank before photographing it. This blank includes a portion of the pith on one edge of the backside (visible on the end-grain faces of both photos) and does include pith-related radial cracks along the adjacent side (lower side, top photo). However, if the blank is mounted with the annotated face as the top of the bowl, that pith and the associated cracks should turn off completely. I see no other significant cracks or structural flaws in this piece. Aromatic red Cedar lot 187 $8.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Eastern Red Cedar lot 195 4" x 6-1/2" x 3" 1-1/2 lbs. This is another very nice rectangular block of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is primarily salmon-pink heartwood with a small thin section of contrasting cream to beige colored sapwood on one back edge. Again, please excuse the blotchy colors on the faces and end-grain sides - I mistakenly wax sealed (Anchorseal) the blank before photographing it. This was cut from close to the pith of the log, but neither the pith nor pith-related cracks are present within this block. I see no significant flaws. Sold Aromatic red Cedar lot 195 $8.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 157 6" x 6" x 3" 2 lbs. This is a nice square bowl blank of aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. It is the variety locally known as Purple Heart, with a deep purple heartwood and a nicely contrasting cream to beige colored sapwood. The pith is present on one edge but it is tight and sound. I see no significant cracks or other structural weakness in this piece. There is an old "included" branch on one edge (right side, top photo) that has decayed. The adjacent heartwood appears sound and this area would turn off completely if the bowl were oriented such that the annotated face was the bottom when turned. Sold Aromatic red Cedar lot 157 $8.00 click to enlarge This small Cedar bowl was recently turned from the same tree as the other pieces of cedar offered here. Additional examples of turnings from our local Texas woods are presented on Prairie's End Woodshop. click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 154 18" x 14" x 6" 25 lbs. This is a very nice, large rectangular bowl blank in aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar - the variety locally known as Purple Heart, with a gorgeous deep purple heartwood; the sapwood is a nicely contrasting cream to beige color. That dark bark is loose so a "barky" natural-edge bowl is unlikely in this case. The pith in this log was off-center and that pith is present within this half and is visible on both end-grain faces (both photos). However, that pith appears to be quite tight and crack-free. There are several thin drying checks at one end, where the blank was cut from the end of the log. These checks appear quite shallow and I allowed extra length such that these should trim off when the blank is roughed to round. That is a 14" (max bowl diameter) circle scribed on the top face. I see no significant cracks or other structural weakness in this piece. Sale pending Aromatic red Cedar lot 154 $50.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 155 15-1/2" x 17" x 6-1/2" 36 lbs. This is another very nice, large rectangular bowl blank in aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar - the variety locally known as Purple Heart, with a gorgeous deep purple heartwood; the sapwood is a nicely contrasting cream to beige color. That dark bark is loose so a "barky" natural-edge bowl is unlikely in this case. If you examine the grain pattern in the top photo, you can see that this piece was cut from the area of a major side limb. I suspect that some nice crotch-related grain is present close to this face (flame or feather??). I would mount and turn this blank for a natural-edge bowl (without bark but with a nice sapwood rim) so that if a nice crotch figure is present, it would be maintained in the lower portion of the bowl. This blank was cut from close to the pith but none of that pith is present (top photo). However, there is one thin, pith-related radial crack in a portion of the top face and upper end-grain face (not really visible on the photos). That feature should be reinforced with CA glue when turning. In a NE bowl form, that pith-crack looks like it would turn-off completely. Both ends are fresh-cut and I see no drying checks. There do not appear to be any other significant structural weaknesses in this piece. Aromatic red Cedar lot 155 $60.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 156 15" x 16" x 4-6" 28 lbs. This is another very nice, large rectangular bowl blank in aromatic, Purple Heart Texas Eastern Red Cedar - the half-brother to lot #155 above. The heartwood is a gorgeous deep purple heartwood and the sapwood is a nicely contrasting cream to beige color. That dark, stringy Cedar bark is also loose and absent in portions, so a "barky" natural-edge bowl is also unlikely in this case. Two secondary limbs were present in this section of the living tree and should make for a very interesting grain pattern in the finished bowl. Those limbs are apparent from the grain pattern visible on the cut top face (the other half of that one on lot #155) and the stub of a second large limb on the backside (bottom photo). Note, that "stub" is a separate limb from the one that formed the swirling grain on the top face. There is even a third small limb on one corner (left edge of the end-grain face, bottom photo), but that will come off as the blank is roughed to round. Again, this blank could be mounted and turned for a natural-edge bowl to take advantage of both of those crotch-related grain patterns. The pith in this log was off-center and a short portion of that pith is present at one end of this half. The pith is visible on the end-grain face of the bottom photo and as the dark round spot at the upper edge of the annotated face on the top photo. There is one small and thin, pith-related radial crack on the end-grain portion of pith but it does not carry thru to the top face. I don't see that minor feature as any constraint to turning. Both ends are fresh-cut and I see no drying checks. There do not appear to be any significant structural weaknesses in this piece. Aromatic red Cedar lot 156 $60.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Red Cedar lot 121 10-1/2" x 11" x 4" 9 lbs. This is another very nice half-log bowl blank in aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. The heartwood is a beautiful salmon to dark red; the sapwood is a nicely contrasting white to cream color. It includes a major side limb and results in a very nice flowing figure at the cut surface with complex grain patterns and colors. Typical of Cedar, there are a number of juvenile branches that appear to extend outward from the heartwood into the adjacent sapwood - these will make for interesting patterns in any turned form. The log that yielded this half-log piece was cut thru the pith and the shallow portion of that pith is included at the cut surface. However, the pith is tight and the blank exhibits no visible structural weakness. I did not round this into a bowl blank shape but left it intact such that you can cut it into smaller turning blanks - for goblets, pepper mills, pens, bowls or the like - if desired. However, I did scribe a circle on the cut face so that you can see the extent of the largest (10") bowl form that is likely from this piece. Aromatic red Cedar lot 121 $25.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Red Cedar lot 122 10-1/2" x 11" x 4" 9 lbs. This is another very nice half-log bowl blank in aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. The heartwood is a beautiful salmon to dark red; the sapwood is a nicely contrasting white to cream color. It includes a major side limb and results in a very nice flowing figure at the cut surface with complex grain patterns and colors. Typical of Cedar, there are a number of juvenile branches that appear to extend outward from the heartwood into the adjacent sapwood - these will make for interesting patterns in any turned form. The log that yielded this half-log piece was cut thru the pith and the shallow portion of that pith is included at the cut surface. However, the pith is tight and the blank exhibits no visible structural weakness. I did not round this into a bowl blank shape but left it intact such that you can cut it into smaller turning blanks - for goblets, pepper mills, pens, bowls or the like - if desired. However, I did scribe a circle on the cut face so that you can see the extent of the largest (10") bowl form that is likely from this piece. Sold Aromatic red Cedar lot 122 $25.00 click to enlarge click to enlarge Aromatic Purple Heart Cedar lot 151 11" diameter x 5" deep 9-3/4 lbs. This is another beautiful half-log bowl blank in aromatic Texas Eastern Red Cedar. This is the variety locally known as Purple Heart, with a gorgeous deep purple heartwood; the sapwood is a nicely contrasting cream to beige color. As is usual with Eastern Red Cedar, there are a number of juvenile branches that appear to extend outward from the heartwood into the adjacent sapwood - these will make for interesting patterns in the sides and bottom of a turned bowl. The pith was cut completely out of this half-log blank and it exhibits no visible structural weakness. It was roughly-rounded and flattened on the back to reduce shipping weight, to reveal some of the internal figure, and to make it ready to mount on your lathe and begin turning. Sold Aromatic red Cedar lot 151 $30.00 Listing last updated 25 January 2012 Nothing here that suits your needs? Then send me an email at: l.stahl@maroon.com or a telephone call at: 281-392-5336 There is a possibility that I have more, either cut into blocks or in the rough log, so I may be able to meet your specific requirements. If not - send an email with your requirements and I will put it into my "wood requested by species" files and see if I can cut it next time I have a log of that species up on the mill. © 2000 to 2011, Texas Woodcrafts