In article , "Bill Noble" wrote:
acid activates purple heart and makes it a very vivid color - might be worth
a try

Not on cherry. Use alkali instead -- even a weak lye solution makes cherry
quite dark. Ammonia will darken it also. I haven't tried washing soda yet to
see if it has a similar effect, but I imagine it will.

"Bob Daun" wrote in message
t...
I currently am working on a few cherry bowls. I know that cherry will
darken upon exposure to sunlight from a maple type color to a darker
reddish color. I know this is primarily from exposure to UV light. I
finish my bowls with a few coats of Formby's Tung Oil Finish and then
after thorough drying, I use my Beall system to polish and wax. Does
anyone know of procedures to use to accelerate the rate of darkening.
What might be a good UV source that could be used close to the wood to
darken it. I have a halogen work light but I don't know the primary
wavelengths of emission for those bulbs.

Bob