Questions about cherry

I've been working a lot in the past weeks with cherry for the first time. I've obviously discovered many interesting facts and I had a few questions regarding its ability to change color rapidly.

I planed a few pieces 2 weeks ago and left them pilled up on my bench. I planed some more pieces from the same board later on and was surprised on how much color change can happen in so little time... The pieces that had something on top still had their original color when planed but the edges already started to turn brown.

I was wondering how furniture makers are dealing with that "problem". If you deliver a freshly made and finished piece of furniture made out of cherry, what happen if the client leaves a vase, a bowl or anything else on the wood? If one side is more exposed near a window, will you get a side darker that the other one within a few months? Do the reaction of the wood related to air, to light, or both?

I'm seeking some advices on how to make sure I don't get some unpleasant results or best, provide good advices to future clients when dealing with freshly made cherry furniture.

Thanks for shedding some light over this somehow dark subject... ;)

Cyberben

Reply to
BeniBoose
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There's a couple of different approaches I'm aware of. The first, obviously, is to stain it, getting it dark enough that any color changes later won't be apparent. Gel stains tend to work well - that's how I did my first piece in cherry.

While I was pleased with the result at the time, I later felt the look to be rather "artificial", and was stumped for a solution until I came across this piece of advice:

After it is assembled, scraped and sanded, sunbathe your furniture. Not in the heat of noon during high summer, obviously - spring and early winter are best, or early morning at the beginning of summer. You don't want so much heat - or direct sunlight - that the wood begins to warp.

Do that for a couple of hours each day for a few days, and then apply finish (I prefer Danish oil, your tastes may vary). You'll find that the sunbathed cherry is rich and dark (this works on cherry ply, also).

It will continue to darken over the years if exposed to sunlight, but under normal indoor conditions that change will be very incremental, and barely noticable.

Just make very sure not to leave anything on the cherry while it's sunbathing! A newspaper left on a tabletop will leave a "tan line" that will be impossible to equalize with the rest of the surface without sanding back to an unexposed layer of wood.

Reply to
Demosthenes

Reply to
GerryG

FWW had some articles on accelerating the darkening process with chemicals. Jack

Reply to
jack

GerryG entered from his corner of the Internet news:... [clip]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

We would have far fewer wars, lawsuits, divorces, and most importantly... far less staining of cherry if people could adopt this simple notion. When I recently completed the simple mantelshelfofsolidcherry for some friends of mine, their reaction was, "Well, looks like we're gonna have to toss the cherry veneered stereo equipment."

Yeah, cherry's like that.

Humbly submitted, O'Deen

Reply to
Patrick Olguin

I had a cherry table sitting in another shop where they had placed a magazine on top which left "tan lines". I brought it back and set it in a sunny window. It took a while but it did even out to where I can't tell there were ever any there. The piece had a natural stain with an OIL based poly, which I would think would make a difference vs. water based. Jana

Reply to
Jana

As you discovered Cherry has a very pronounced property of darkening due to exposure to light. The good news is that this effect is fairly shallow so varied darkening that occurs between cutting and sanding is very easily sanded out. I ran an experiment along these lines and found that the depth of darkening on some wood that had been stored for months was only about 0.007 inch and was easily sanded to a uniform color.

Regarding finished furniture, the darkening occurs most rapidly initially and then the darkening rate slows over time so the occasional placement of items like vases won't make obvious marks unless the vase isn't moved for years or the vase is placed on a fresh piece. Moving the piece and letting the natural effects of lighting will soon balance the coloring.

I love the color of Cherry and was initially disappointed in my earlier pieces when they never seemed to have the right color when finished. I've since learned to be patient and am amply rewarded with beautiful furniture after a couple of months of display. I have learned to avoid the temptation to speed the process artifically.

TWS

Reply to
TWS

I have done some pretty extensive cherry projects in my short < 30 years woodworking. I love and hate working with cherry. It saw burns just looking at it. but I do love its workability. All three of my daughters have a desk made of cherry and I know how much trouble it can be. I finished all the desks then gassed them with industrial ammonia used to make blue prints from. that ammonia caused the cherry to age and get its patina in less than a few days. I drove around with a piece of cherry on the dash of my truck for months and never got the same effect from using the ammonia in a tent I made from scrap lumber and sheet plastic to make a semi air tight enclosure.

Reply to
kenny

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