Here's a video and quick example of how soft cedar wood is:
wood test video. I have the original bed wood (black piece) and a piece of pine wood (reddish piece), red oak (unfinished clear board), white cedar (thick chunk), & red cedar (piece on the end) for comparison. I hammer a 1/4" hex nut onto each piece. This is not a scientific experiment, but it clearly shows how much softer cedar is than the standard oak & pine bed wood used in restorations.
If the bed will never get sat on, there isn't much that could top the looks of Eastern Red cedar. I just made the video to show how soft it is. I wasn't hitting the hex nuts very hard.
Brad
