"SonomaProducts.com" wrote in
:

How come whenever you see any Cherry
furniture or cabinets it is a dark reddish brown in color? *Is it
always stained?

-Jim

Yes usually stained but you can darken Cherry "quasi" naturally using
chemicals. Potassium dichromate specifically. It is in Drano, etc. but
you can buy it full strength in powder form on ebay real cheap. It is
a bit dangerous but works fantastic. If you leave it long enough it
will go almost black, yet leave the variations of the underlying
color.

I did some testing with Red Devil drain cleaner and the outcome was
awesome. I have in the near future an "antiqued" Cherry bedroom set
for myself and I'll probably build an extra set for sale. I just love
the deep rich redish brown.

Read some about it here.
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=27343


I'm not an expert in wood finishing, far from it. However, as a
(bio)chemist I have had experience with potassium dichromate.
Specifically, we used to use it dissolved in concentrated sulfuric acid
to make a really, really powerful cleaning agent for our glassware.
That takes advantage of the extremely powerful oxidation capabilities of
the combination of 2 powerful oxidizers. It hurts when you get it in
the eye. Later, we were forbidden to use it because chromium (chromate
is an anion derived from chromium) is a carcinogen. So, be careful with
potassium dichromate - an oxidizer and a carcinogen.

I surmise that drain cleaners darken wood because of their very high pH.
Be careful with lye etc. At high pH your skin and other proteins are
dissolved quite effectively, and the lye wil keep eating away until it
is either exhausted or really rinsed away. Acids are bad for you too,
but at least they denature the protein and form something of a
protective layer; lye just dissolves everything.

If yoy follow any directions for the use of chemicals, know what you are
doing and understand and follow the directions.

Universal paid for healthcare isn't yet available for everyone here in
the US ...

--
Best regards
Han
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