Incense holds its own

ALTHOUGH often overshadow- Fl ed by western red cedar, California cousin incense cedar offers many of the same benefits, plus a few of its own.

Incense cedar can be found at moderate elevations in the Sierras, the coastal range mountains of Northern California and in Southern Oregon. lt is named after the fragrant oil which seeps to the surface just after the wood is cut. The sapwood is white or cream-colored, the heartwood light brown to reddish-brown, often pecky, with a fine, uniform texture.

Its most outstanding characteristic is its high resistance to decay and high durability when exposed to weather. lt machines well, glues superbly, and takes and holds paints and stains well. High dimensional stability results in low volumetric shrinkage, while top marks in thermal conductivity make it one of the finest wood insulators.

"But it's not really a construction wood," says Bob Smith, Bohannon Lumber Co., Orange, Ca. "lt's a remanufacturing type of wood." Yet with its distinct appearance and properties, incense cedar proves an ideal material for countless products: r Siding (due to is decay resistance, dimensional stability, high insula-

Story at a Glance

Proving western red is not the only cedar in the forest, incense cedar offers many of the same advantages distinct appearance, high durability, working properties lead to countless remanufacturing opportunities.

tion, light weight, workability, weathering and paint holding properties); o Sheathing and subflooring (insulation, stability, resistance, workability, light weight); o Paneling and interior finish (clear grades, rich color, small knots, wear resistance, easy maintenance, paint and stain receptiveness) : o Fencing, short poles and shakes (ease ofsplitting to post sizes, resistance, weathering, workability, light weight); o Pencil stock (straightness of grain, softness and ease of whittling, light weight, workability, exceptional gluing); o Venetian blinds (smooth surface, light weight); o And closet lining, moulding, decking, lattice, outdoor furniture, hot tubs, toy stock, greenhouse benches, flower boxes, nursery flats, boardwalks. mud sills. rafters, window sash, ice houses, irrigation and drain boxes, grave lining, casket shook, shallow ditch shoring, duck boards, pickets, chicken houses, rabbit hutches, birdhouses, garden summer houses, garden stakes, trellises, beach dressing cabins, small boat houses, dog houses, feed troughs, plates, fire stops and other milled articles and specialty items.

P&M Cedar Products. Stockton. Ca., manufactures incense cedar into a wide range of products, utilizing the entire log, right down to the downfall. "The different size trees are graded while in the foresl for their best intended use and then separated for size," explains P&M's Jean Fakundiny. "The larger, older logs have a lot of peck in them and are best suited for pencil stock. Smaller logs are good for exterior siding, interior paneling and mould- ing. And even smaller logs go into our cutstock program for picture frames, window parts, handles for barbecues, and so on."

P&M even uses the wood chips to feed a cogeneration plant and to produce Duraflame woodwax firelogs at its California Cedar Products division. "We've done a lot of tests, and incense cedar seems to make a better firelog than all other species. It's better than pine, certainly better than any hardwood, because of its natural bonding properties to wax," says California Cedar Products' Chris Caron.

But why incense cedar and not western red cedar? El Louise Waldron, Waldron l"orest Products, Carmichael, Ca., says, "People used to buy incense cedar because o1, number one, its color. It's a creamy white and not the bright red of western red cedar. Two, the price had been considerably less, although now it's pretty much in line with western red cedar. Three, for decorative items, if you're looking for a lower grade of pecky cedar, incense cedar has it and western red cedar lower grades really don't. And finally, incense cedar can be found in California, while western red cedar grows in the Northern hemisphere. So location may or may not be an advantage."

Yet with rising prices, the incense cedar business has changed over the last few years. "lt's not what.it used to be," says Smith. "lt's fairly hard to find and there's not as much demand for it, so consequently the mills haven't been producing it like they had been. We just sell the moulding grade now."

Incense cedar may not be the only tree in the forest, but its advantages are clear.