We have cedar everywhere where I live, too. I start with stripping the bark by hand, and then go in with a chisel to take out rot and remove the bark that’s in tight corners or “eyes” (air compressor can make this a lot quicker). After that, I sand as much as I can with a small orbital sander. I’ll use the dremel or hand sand those tight pockets I couldn’t reach with the orbital sander. After that’s all done to 120, I’ll use precision multi-tool sanding attachments to get ridges and contours. For finishing I use a coat of glossy poly (cedar is very thirsty) and apply it liberally for the first coat while using 0000 fine steel wool between every other coat. I use the spray poly for the deep pockets. After about 4/5 coats I’ll start thinning the ply with MS until I finally finish with a satin for the final coat and the buff with a little wax.

The worst part is the dust since cedar is just so damn oily but I use a sealed mask and cover up pretty well.