All Replies on Cherry wood finish?

Why would anyone want to stain Cherry? Must be a good friend to give you a load of Cherry!!! Congrats!

-- Bruce Free Plans http://plans.sawmillvalley.org

I like cherry natural myself also. It is beautiful all on it’s own. I have a bunch of cherry flooring left over from a job that I’ve been using for projects. After I milled some out, I tried a few different stains on scrap pieces. All different shades look good IMO. Just a matter of experimenting and see what you like. A few scraps and a dab of different stain on each one and you can keep them for future reference too if you label them

-- Welcome to downtown Coolsville, Population: US! --Hogarth Hughes

I’m with Bruce and Ben, I don’t like to stain cherry. But if you do, just remember that the cherry will darken with age so stain a little lighter than what you want the final color to be. Otherwise I really like tung oil on cherry, it warms the color without hiding the natural beauty of the wood.

-- Perilous to all of us are the devices of an art deeper than we ourselves possess. --Gandalf the Grey http://davidwahl.org/category/woodworking/

Oil it up and let the sun take care of the color.. Cherry will get a nice red color with age.. the oil will bring out the beauty in the wood.. that’s my method of choice and I’m sticking to it :)

-- Dan, Rochester, NY

I, too, do not stain cherry. To me, it seems just beautiful the way God made it.

And it’s very satisfying to watch it darken over time.

-- Jim Maher, Illinois

I am like everyone else, I don’t like to stain cherry but I have found a stain that gives it that aged look instantly. I have used General Finishs Black Cherry on several projects and it looks great.

-- Guy Kroll www.thelandsathillsidefarms.org

I have never been a big fan of stains. Especially on cherry. If you want to make one type of wood look like another by using stain, why not just build it out of that kind of wood. I like the variation in colors of natural wood. Stains can enhance some woods but cherry always seems to be stained so dark that you can’t see the grain. Be patient and let that cherry darken on it’s own. No stain can match the beauty of letting it age and take on it’s own natural color!

-- Every day above ground is a good day!!!

I make my own finish but MinWax has a tung oil finish that is a tung oil poly mix. This works very well.

-- David in Damascus, MD

Garnet shellac has recently become my favorite finish on cherry.

-- Our village hasn't lost it's idiot, he was elected to congress.

Plain ole boiled linseed oil makes a nice finish on cherry. Followup with some thinned polyurethane for a more glossy finish.

I also finish cherry with the mentioned cherry Minwax stain but before I stain it I put on a coat of Seal Coat (shellac base) diluted three parts alcohol to one part Seal Coat. This initial wash coat almost eliminates the blotching often experienced when staining cherry. Follow up with a coat of full strength seal coat the three coats of diluted poly (diluted one part poly to one part mineral spirits.)

-- Roger M, Aiken, SC

Try some Tried and True Varnish Oil on some cherry prepped with smoother/sanded to 320 or so: Nothing more beautiful.

I use Cherry a LOT, and I’ve colored it anywhere from “just a hint” to “really dark” ... just depends on what the end use/customer wants/likes. I’ve had great results using Charles Neil’s Blotch Control along with a variety of dyes. The combination really irons out the differences between heart/sap wood, which can be a pain if you’re trying to build out of nothing but heartwood in order to eliminate the color differences. The Blotch Control + dye simply makes sapwood disappear.

Another great recipe to consider is simply a washdown with a mild solution of Lye in warm water … it ages Cherry decades in only a few minutes. I personally don’t like to wait out the aging process, and this simply speeds up the inevitable.

I am such an ANTI-FAN of Linseed Oil that I won’t even allow it in my shop. I have a can from about 1950 that I use on occasion to wipe down shovel handles & such … to me, that’s about all it’s good for. Learn to use dyes and you will soon abandon BLO.

-- - dabbling in sarcasm is foolish … if you’re not proficient at it, you end up looking stupid … ... ...

BLO can make a really nice finish if you have the time, right up until you set set a drink on it (adult beverage). Alchohol removes BLO very quickly.

-- David in Damascus, MD

I try to never stain cherry, The natural mellowing of the wood is beautiful. But if I ever put stain on cherry, I use Minwax cherry stain. It doesn’t change the color much, but adds a slight depth to the finish.

-- Dan, Rochester, NY

Or, imo:

-- Dan, Rochester, NY

Tung oil and BLO, never used anything else, and been very happy with the results. I have a cherry bookshelf I made years ago, after about 3 years with sun bathing it everyday from the window it is a beautiful dark cherry. Unfortunately there is a small area on one side that was pretty shielded from the sun, not as dark as the rest but still very nice.

-- Martin ....always count the number of fingers you have before, and after using the saw.

I use zinsser sealcoat (dewaxed shellac) followed by crystalac.

-- He who dies with the most tools... dies with the emptiest wallet.

thanks guys for the comments i will definetly use them.

-- The College Woodworker

I’m with fuzzy on the Charles Neil approach
What David Marks uses is Potassium dichromate

-- http://artisticwoodstudio.com Custom furniture

One suggestion I can give you in regards to staining samples; make sure you view the dried samples in the intended eventual lighting. Different lighting temperatures and brightness may change the perception of the color.

I’ve had great success using Potassium dichromate to instantly age cherry with a variety of top coats, it looks gorgeous! I recently used Potassium dichromate and Waterlox original on a new set of stairs. I’m very happy with the results.

-- Ken

I would definitely use tung oil or boiled linseed. Cherry “ages” instantly with oil and you don’t see blotching like you do with stain. I’m a fan of Watco rather than Minwax.

-- Dale

I agree with the boiled linseed oil and sunbathing method. I oil individual parts throughout a build and once assembled, oil the entire project and let it sunbathe for at least another three days getting darker each day!

-- Ron in Lilburn, Georgia.  Knowing how to use a tool is more important than the tool in and of itself.