: Hi all: I am just about to start my first stripper also and I was wondering
: if Cypress is a viable alternate to Cedar.

: I know where I can get some good boards of clear heart cypress at a very
: attractive price (free) and I wondered if it was worth using in place of
: Cedar.

I assume that you're talking about southern cypress as opposed to "western" or "Pacific coast" cypress (aka Alaskan Yellow Cedar). Southern cypress is a swamp tree that has high natural rot resistance, so it makes good boat building wood. I don't know how it fares as far as weight goes compared to cedar.

If you're getting Alaskan yellow cedar free, condsider yourself very lucky. It's beautiful stuff, but can be hard to find. It will be even harder to find and more expensive now that new tariff regulations on imported wood have gone into effect (most AYC comes from British Columbia). I guess NAFTA doesn't apply to wood.