On Oct 22, 9:26 am, hex wrote:

Hmmm -- should have done a google search before posting this. I see a few subtle flames from the blasphemy furnace have started. I'll not
flame; though I too hold that staining cherry if *generally* a really
bad idea.

No kidding.... this is a fight not worth starting. Some would rather
sit with a wonderfully finished piece of cherry that is soft pink,
knowing that over many years their grandkids might wind up with the
color of wood they see in a magazine or furniture building book. To
them it is much better to wait a few decades and feel like a
traditionalist rather than than toning or applying dye to wood to make
it look like a traditional cherry piece that is a couple of hundred
years old.

Personally, I want to enjoy things now. Besides, I don't have 50 - 75
years to wait to see IF the current cherry harvest would yield
wood that would consistantly turn into that beautiful deep brick red
color that it did when it was old growth New England cherry from 200
years ago. Too many factors come into play; today's modern resin
finishes, climatized air in homes, lack of natural light in homes,
etc.

Cherry particularly is sensitive to geography/soil.
Cherry from SE MN will often go almost grey rather than red; from southern IN it'll vary but can often be blood red; PA cherry is the gold standard.

So a big question: let's say you find the stain you want. Will it be what you want *after* the wood under the stain darkens?

All good points, hex. Especially about the regional differences.
Down here in South Texas, we don't have cherry in any amount except as
an import for other areas. And since wood is bought and sold as a
commodity, you really never know what region (much less forest!) you
load of cherry came from. Even our good local supplier buys on the
spot market from one of several suppliers, and when he gets in a
shipment, it all goes into the warehouse, this shipment mixed with
that, etc.

And I have NO doubt that we don't get the good stuff; I have seen
furniture made from cherry actually bought on the NE coast. When
comparing that to the stuff we get here, it honestly looks like a
different species of wood. Some of ours is so gray that it looks like
weathered birch to me.

And guess what... leaving it out in the sun makes it turn a pinkish
gray. Nasty.

I think every intelligent finisher needs to know and understand the
medium in which he works. If leaving wood out in the sun gets it the
color you want, great! But -some purists still insist that to get the
completely authentic look of brick red cherry, you must fume. (C'mon,
you don't really think they left those Federalist highboys out in the
back yard in the sun for a couple of days to let it work over the
joints and hide glue didja? How would every joint and 90 degree angle
hidden in the piece get to be the same exact color?).

I personally think whatever gets you where you want to go is what you
should do. I think it is a shame to stain or slather poly on ANY
pretty piece of wood, no matter what species. And I have the patience
of an oyster sometimes.
But if the wood isn't cooperating and after a couple of tests, and if
I don't get what I want... out comes the dyes and gels.

As always, just my 0.02.

Robert