I just built a cabinet out of curly cherry, and finished it with BLO. That must have been a mistake, because the figure really died. The curls are simply darker; they have none of the depth that curly maple has.
I tried a scrap piece with shellac, and that isn't any better. How should I have finished it? Or is this why you don't see much curly cherry?
Did you sand it? Perhaps the figure will stand out better if it is scraped. Sanding tends to 'muddy' figured woods..
Old-style French polishing included filling the pores with pumice. Maybe that would bring out the curls.
Good luck.
Minwax Cherry stain, of course. :) *duck*
You see it, but not for long, usually. It's a matter of contrast as much as a matter of reflection, and darkening with BLO and subsequent oxidation will mute it quite a bit.
Oldest kid's bed still shows some curl after four years, but that was finished in something likely to draw childish comments - Minwax polyurethane with UV inhibitors. What he wanted, and serves well. Newly married daughter has requested the same.
Best bet is to use a clear finish and preserve the reflective difference, even as the contrast fades to mellow red. Third coat or so of that shellac should show it to you. It needs a smooth surface.
Two years ago I built a hall table using curly cherry. The figure was, and still is, beautiful. I finished it using General Finishes' Arm-R-Seal which is an oil and urethane mix. About five coats were wiped on with a rag with light sanding between coats to remove dust and debris. I was and am very happy with it and so is SWMBO. It looks exactly the same today except maybe a shade darker as the cherry ages.
Does it have the same three dimensional effect as curly cherry?
Ditto that. Here's a pic of one I made as a Christmas present for my brother and his wife a few years back. Same finish, same finishing schedule, same results. Before finishing, it was scraped, followed by *very* light sanding with 320-grit paper.
Very nice. When was the picture taken? Has it stayed that light in color? Does it get much light?
TIA Steve
Hey AlphaTurd! The photo might not be accurate, but it shows dark ripples. Is that right? That is what I have on my curly cherry (though rather bolder and less regular), but curly maple has pearly ripples. My wife likes it, but I am rather disappointed.
Thanks. The pic was taken in Dec '02. It's darkened up somewhat, but doesn't get a lot of light in the room where my brother and SIL have it. The curly figure is still clearly visible.
You really need to get some sheen on the surface so the light can do it's thing. It'll never pop like Maple but should be pretty nice once it's a little reflective/shiney. I do BLO or Tung, then Shellac, then wax applied with 0000 steel wool and buf it up to a shine.
When are you going to outgrow the junior-high-school namecalling, Wade?
What makes you think that?
It shows curly grain. The piece looks like the photo.
Different species, different appearances. That's what curly cherry looks like. If you were expecting it to look like curly maple, only red... well, your expectations were not realistic.
If you want the pearly ripples of curly maple, then you need to use curly maple.
I'm not sure whether you meant 'curly maple' there or what. In my opinion (FWIW) the curly cherry shows the same depth and 3D look as the birdseye maple used for the top of the table. Here are two pictures. They look slightly darker than the actual table, but some of the character comes through.
I've had good luck with polymerized tung oil on curly cherry (my entry cabinet top has some figure that looks like ribbons). On my entertainment center, Moser's Danish Oil from WWS seems to do a decent job of brining out the figure without washing out the details.
May be worth checking those finishes out.
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