Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis)
General Information/History | Wood Identification | Working Properties | Uses in Woodworking | Cost & Availability
Call this tree the canoe conifer. Native Americans of the Great Lakes region knew northern white cedar's value. Its wood was light yet strong enough for canoe ribs, and easily split along the growth rings to form the thin planking that was covered by birch bark. The tree also provided an oil that they extracted from twigs and foliage to relieve chest congestion. When lumbermen first entered the vast forests where the northern white cedar grew, they instead harvested the abundant white pine. Except for furnishing decay-resistant wood to shingle bunkhouses, the northern white cedar was ignored. But by the turn of the century, as its use for cooperage, posts, poles, and shingles became appreciated, northern white cedar reached record harvest levels of nearly 100 million board feet per year. Loggers in the northern Great Lakes states, Maine, and Canada still harvest northern white cedar. Like more familiar cedars, it is durable for everything outdoors, from fences and decks to boats and furniture.
The tree flourishes in company with hemlock, larch, alder, and balsam fir. In the moist soil that it frequently grows in thick stands. Favorable conditions produce trees 70' tall and up to 6' in diameter. Normally, northern white cedars grow to about 50' with a diameter of 2-3'. No matter its size, the tree has an attractive pyramidal shape, often with twin trunks. Northern white cedar's orange-brown bark features fissures that break into twinelike strings. Rather than having needles like most conifers, northern white cedar has tiny, scaly leaves that overlap on the twigs and branchlets. By late summer, reddish cones up to 1/2" long appear.
Northern white cedar's aromatic wood is a light tan and weighs about 19 pounds per cubic foot air-dried. Although quite stable and easy to work, it is soft, brittle, and coarse-grained. However, the wood is durable in contact with soil and water, and strong for its weight. The fact that it easily splits along its growth rings was a blessing to the Native Americans, but is rated a defect called "ring shake" by the lumber industry.
Traditionally destined for posts, utility poles, shingles, siding, and boats, northern white cedar's lightness and durability make it ideal for outdoor furniture, too. The wood is still a favorite for strip canoes. And because it holds paint and stain well, it's used for decks and fencing.
In New England and the Great Lakes states, you'll find northern white cedar at small local mills as well as lumber outlets. Elsewhere, it's replaced in the marketplace by Western red cedar, which is logged in far greater volume. Where you find it, expect to pay about $1 per lineal foot in thicknesses up to 4". Unlike the more abundant and thus widely used Western red cedar, northern white cedar isn't offered in clear or vertical-grain grades. However, the highest grades (C Select and D Select) work well for interior trim, cabinets, and outdoor furniture because they are graded for appearance from one side. "Board" grades of northern white cedar come in plain Common, and Nos.1-5 Common (in descending order of quality). You also can buy the wood in construction grades. Air-dried northern white cedar should be stickered when stored. If not, moisture that works its way between the boards can sometimes cause a surface mold.
