I'm just about done cutting, planning and sanding the components for a small
cherry project.

The wood is noticibly lighter now, after sanding and planning than when I
started with the raw stock.

Will the wood continue to darken/redden if I clear coat it or should I let
it sit unfinished, in the sun,
for a while until it darkens as desired prior to finishing?

I plan on using General Finishes Arm-R-Seal Oil & Urethane finish.

ThankX,
Ron

In article , "Ron" wrote:
I'm just about done cutting, planning and sanding the components for a small
cherry project.

The wood is noticibly lighter now, after sanding and planning than when I
started with the raw stock.

Yep, it'll do that. Don't be concerned, though. It'll darken up again.

Will the wood continue to darken/redden if I clear coat it

Yes.

or should I let
it sit unfinished, in the sun,
for a while until it darkens as desired prior to finishing?

I wouldn't do that. Too much chance of it collecting dust, smudges, etc. Set
it in the sun *after* you clear coat it.

If you want to accelerate the darkening process, you can treat it with a weak
lye solution, or ammonia-fume it. Google Groups search on this ng for cherry
lye ammonia should turn up lots of information.

Or you can be patient, and let it darken naturally (provides the best
appearance, IMO).

I plan on using General Finishes Arm-R-Seal Oil & Urethane finish.

Perfect.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Oct 2, 8:32 pm, "Ron" wrote:

I plan on using General Finishes Arm-R-Seal Oil & Urethane finish.

That's what I used on the cherry cradle I built for my wife's niece,
and again for my daughter. My wife came in when I was about to put on
the first coat of poly - after I'd put on the seal-a-cell (The guy who
gave the finishing class at Woodcraft I attended a few years ago was
adamant: first the seal-a-cell THEN the arm r seal).

Anyway, she said "THAT'S the color I wanted for that maple nightstand
you made me." We got that nightstand a nice color, but nowhere near
the lovely shade of that cherry.

That was my first cherry project. If we'd only known then which wood
is her favorite, it would have saved me some staining. I don't stain
anything any more. If I want it dark, I use cherry or walnut. :-)

Great, I should be able to compete it by the weekend then.

I've been using GF stains and finishes for a several years now and am quite
pleased with them overall.

ThankX all,
Ron

On Oct 3, 5:52 pm, "Ron" wrote:
Great, I should be able to compete it by the weekend then.

I've been using GF stains and finishes for a several years now and am quite
pleased with them overall.

ThankX all,
Ron

You are welcome. You escaped the worst treatment possible on the
Wreck.
I'm not allowed/authorized to say more than that.
....got to run.....

FYI, if your finish has UV protective qualities, which many do, it
will retard the darkening some. I've never figured out the science of
the darkening process so I'm not sure if it is actually a light driven
oxidation process and if it is, I assume any film finish will retard
that too.

Lots of folks just cringe at coloring Cherry but I don't think there
is anything sacred about it. I've used very light additions of dyes to
hasten the darkening look and I've done dark glazes over the first
coat of film finish to amazing results that looked like a 100 year old
piece.

On Oct 2, 6:32 pm, "Ron" wrote:
I'm just about done cutting, planning and sanding the components for a small
cherry project.

The wood is noticibly lighter now, after sanding and planning than when I
started with the raw stock.

Will the wood continue to darken/redden if I clear coat it or should I let
it sit unfinished, in the sun,
for a while until it darkens as desired prior to finishing?

I plan on using General Finishes Arm-R-Seal Oil & Urethane finish.

ThankX,
Ron

SonomaProducts.com wrote:

Lots of folks just cringe at coloring Cherry but I don't think there
is anything sacred about it.

Same here, but I think I've figured out why some folks get so freaked out.

It's how cherry takes a stain when applied by the unknowing. G I've
seen a few simply AWFUL blotch jobs on beautiful cherry.

B A R R Y wrote:

SonomaProducts.com wrote:

Lots of folks just cringe at coloring Cherry but I don't think there
is anything sacred about it.

Same here, but I think I've figured out why some folks get so freaked out.

It's how cherry takes a stain when applied by the unknowing. G
I think you are right.

I've
seen a few simply AWFUL blotch jobs on beautiful cherry.
Viewed some of my work, have you? g

Now I've taken to tinting with shellacs, either of natural color, or
with transtint dyes added.
--
Alex -- Replace "nospam" with "mail" to reply by email. Checked infrequently.

On Oct 4, 2:55 pm, alexy wrote:
B A R R Y wrote:

SonomaProducts.com wrote:

Lots of folks just cringe at coloring Cherry but I don't think there
is anything sacred about it.

Same here, but I think I've figured out why some folks get so freaked out.

It's how cherry takes a stain when applied by the unknowing. G

I think you are right.

I've
seen a few simply AWFUL blotch jobs on beautiful cherry.

Viewed some of my work, have you? g

Now I've taken to tinting with shellacs, either of natural color, or
with transtint dyes added.

Orange shellac. Bob Flexner's book shows a dresser French
polished with orange shellac that looks absolutely stunning.
1 or 2 lb cut brushed on and steel wooled after the last
coat should give similar results.

Yes, cherry *will* darken to a blood red hue over time --
say 30 years. As for a tinted finish being cheating, I've never
seen an old piece of cherry that wasn't finished with some
sort of tinted glaze.

On Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:55:48 -0400, alexy wrote:

Now I've taken to tinting with shellacs, either of natural color, or
with transtint dyes added.

Exactly!

I use Seal Coat as a sanding sealer 99% of the time. Since SC is
simply dewaxed shellac, it's really easy to put a few drops of TT into
it.

Tinted shellac sealer coats are quite easy to hand apply, even though
I usually spray it. Tinting the later top coats usually requires
spray application.

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On Thu, 04 Oct 2007 17:43:56 -0700, Ferd Farkel
wrote:
As for a tinted finish being cheating, I've never
seen an old piece of cherry that wasn't finished with some
sort of tinted glaze.

I often wonder if the older pieces used a garnet shellac, or an
artificial colorant, but I definitely agree with you. It's really
hard to tell exactly what it was decades later. G

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On Oct 5, 7:03 am, B A R R Y wrote:
On Thu, 04 Oct 2007 17:43:56 -0700, Ferd Farkel
wrote:

As for a tinted finish being cheating, I've never
seen an old piece of cherry that wasn't finished with some
sort of tinted glaze.

I often wonder if the older pieces used a garnet shellac, or an
artificial colorant, but I definitely agree with you. It's really
hard to tell exactly what it was decades later. G

Alcohol test. I keep a few isopropyl swabs in my site toolkit's
first aid bin. They have uses other than sterilizing tweezers.

On Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:10:12 -0700, Ferd Farkel
wrote:

Alcohol test. I keep a few isopropyl swabs in my site toolkit's
first aid bin. They have uses other than sterilizing tweezers.

I put that the wrong way. I know how to tell what kind of a finish
is there, but it can be very difficult to determine if it's a dark
shellac, or a shellac mixed with artificial colorants decades later.

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