Matching a finish on a older cherry cabinet

just an FYI, cherry darkens with exposure to light over time. if you stain it to match now, it will not match in the future when it darkens.

you might want to just apply some polyurethane to the cabinets and let them darken over time. the poly is usually a good cabinet finish that doesn’t add too much color but it somewhat wear resistant.

If these were commerically supplied cabinets the finish was probably lacquer. If you want to try and tell what was applied try this in an inconspicious area:

Wipe the area first with a little mineral spirits to remove any built up wax residue.

After the mineral spirits dries apply a little boiled linseed oil to an inconspicious area. If it is absorbed by the cabinets then you have an oil finish. If they have a lacquer/conversion varnish topcoat the BLO will just bead up on the surface.

Use a cotton swab or q-tip and dip it in denatured alcohol. If it quickly dissolves the finish then it is shellac. A varnish topcoat will react over time with the alcohol but it will be slowly.

Try another one with aceone. If the finish dissolves then it is lacquer. Shellac and varnishes will get tacky and poly will be unaffected.

I tend to agree with Hokiemojo about staining the cabinets. A couple of things you might want to try with some scrap cherry to see if you can match the color of the cabinets are (1) apply a base coat of boiled linseed oil. This will add some “tone” to the cherry and give is a slightly darker appearance that would come from aging. After the BLO has dried apply your topcoat of choice. (2) Expose the raw cherry to the sun for 2 to 3 week before applying blo and/or a finish. Suntanning the wood in this fashion ages it quickly and gives it a natural color.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Thanks for the ideas but I will not have that much time to cook it under the sun. I think she will be okay with the matched stain. I’m try to figure out the slight sheen it has. I do know it’s not a poly finish because I use that on all of my projects I do. Even when I refinish something. It looks alike one coat of a satin finish. I know you would have to see it before you could tell what it is. I’m not the best when it comes to finishes.

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I think you better to use modern finishing material such as nc lacquer, pu or precat.
To match the cherry color you should choose the right stain.
And you may need to do spray application to get the best result.

-- http://www.wisnofurniturefinishing.com/

As mentioned earlier cherry will darken with age so if you do a perfect job matching today without letting the cherry ‘age’ it will be wrong in the next 1-2 years. The butterfly leaf pictured is about 4 years old and has been inverted exposing the underside. It had a cherry Watco oil applied with 2 coats of varnish. The stripe is where the leaf sits on a cross member when stored (most of the time) and thus sun/light seldom gets to that portion. If you are dealing with natural cherry then you can expect this sort of change.

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