Building w/ Cedar

I have some acreage w/ lots of aromatic cedar.
Is cedar suitable for timberframing?

Mike:

I don't find any listings in either the NDS tables or the Timber Construction Manual for aromatic cedar. --- this probably says something all by itself. White cedar has an Fb that is about the same as white pine but its coefficient of elasticity is about 1/2 that of white pine. Translation --- for the same size members, white cedar is about a strong as white pine, but would deflect twice as much for the same loading. In other words, beams of the same size would be much bouncier than white pine(one of the weaker commonly used timber framing woods) Often the deflection of beams and joists is more the critical factor than bending strength.

However, as I said, I am inferring aromatic cedar numbers from white cedar so this isn't the final word. Maybe Grigg Mullen could offer the definitive analysis when he gets back from the windmill project. --- Try posting the same question in the timber engineering forum (below) so he'll see it.