The Red Cedars around here are considered fire hazards. They explode with giant flames as their resinous leaves and branches catch fire. So they are most often cut down and burned, cleared from entire sections of land.
We cut this cedar last year and it has been laying on the ground since. Taking a chainsaw we split a 10-12 foot section in half. Perfect for two benches. The guys took a grinder and smoothed out the chainsaw marks and further sanding reveled very pretty wood. With three coats of polyurethane the wood just pops!
Each bench has three legs. We have used mortise and tenon construction to attach the legs. Or really peg in hole construction since our tenons are round. We drilled and carved them best we could to fit a hole on the planks. We added screws for added strength and plugged the screw holes with pegs.
With a couple more coats they will be ready for the yard. One will go in the garden under the elm, for the weary and worn out. The other will sit under some shade near the pond. Looks like they will last longer than me.
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