I bought some curly cherry at a lumberyard about 3 hours away.

After planing I find one piece is significantly lighter. I am pretty sure it
is heartwood like the rest; it is just lighter. I don't have enough wood to
not use it, and sure don't like the idea of a full days trip to pick up one
more piece. (sure, I should have bought a surplus, but the stuff is
expensive!)

Should I expect it to get closer to the rest over time, or will it remain
lighter. I could put a light stain on it (I have done that with walnut
sapwood) but don't want to if it will blend naturally.

Thanks.

When fresh cut, Cherry has a white sapwood that turns almost as dark as
the heartwood as air & light get to it, so probably it will mellow.
The heart & knots are darker & will stay that way, but the difference
isn't nearly as severe. Usually it turns during the drying process,
but it is very light sensitive. If you can wait a week, I'd put the
board in a sunny place & see if it doesn't change some more. - Jim

In article .com, "Jim" wrote:
When fresh cut, Cherry has a white sapwood that turns almost as dark as
the heartwood as air & light get to it, so probably it will mellow.

Well.... the sapwood is indeed white, or nearly so, when it's fresh, and it
*does* darken over time. But to say that it becomes "almost as dark as the
heartwood" is a bit of an exaggeration. I have a cherry bookcase built almost
18 years ago on which the sapwood on the sides is still clearly visible.

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

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Doug Miller notes:
the sapwood is indeed white, or nearly so, when it's fresh, and it
*does* darken over time. But to say that it becomes "almost as dark as
the
heartwood" is a bit of an exaggeration. I have a cherry bookcase built
almost
18 years ago on which the sapwood on the sides is still clearly
visible.

Yes. And I discovered not too long ago that cherry from different areas
is a different color. Recently, I gave a friend some 10/4 cherry to use
as feet on quilt racks. He built most of the rest out of 4/4
Pennsylvania cherry. The Pennsy cherry was substantially darker than
our Virginia cherry. Both woods were freshly machined. Something to do
with soil content, I guess.

"Charlie Self" wrote in news:1112108326.532789.14970
@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:

Doug Miller notes:
the sapwood is indeed white, or nearly so, when it's fresh, and it
*does* darken over time. But to say that it becomes "almost as dark as
the
heartwood" is a bit of an exaggeration. I have a cherry bookcase built
almost
18 years ago on which the sapwood on the sides is still clearly
visible.

Yes. And I discovered not too long ago that cherry from different areas
is a different color. Recently, I gave a friend some 10/4 cherry to use
as feet on quilt racks. He built most of the rest out of 4/4
Pennsylvania cherry. The Pennsy cherry was substantially darker than
our Virginia cherry. Both woods were freshly machined. Something to do
with soil content, I guess.

I see the same thing. Seems like cherry from farther north tends
to be darker than that from the south, with the exception that wood
from North Florida seems to be very dark. But I'm not certain that
"florida cherry" is actually the same sub-species.

John

On 29 Mar 2005 06:58:46 -0800, "Charlie Self"
wrote:

Doug Miller notes:
the sapwood is indeed white, or nearly so, when it's fresh, and it
*does* darken over time. But to say that it becomes "almost as dark as
the
heartwood" is a bit of an exaggeration. I have a cherry bookcase built
almost
18 years ago on which the sapwood on the sides is still clearly
visible.

Yes. And I discovered not too long ago that cherry from different areas
is a different color. Recently, I gave a friend some 10/4 cherry to use
as feet on quilt racks. He built most of the rest out of 4/4
Pennsylvania cherry. The Pennsy cherry was substantially darker than
our Virginia cherry. Both woods were freshly machined. Something to do
with soil content, I guess.


I've seen the same thing, Charlie.

It goes even deeper than that.

When I wanted to do a project that was going to use a bunch of cherry,
like a library, or a wainscot job - I'd try to buy "In the bole", so
that my range of color and figure was restricted.

I usuallly ordered twenty percent more than the job called for, rather
than the usual ten, because I would not be within my range, even
though the cherry may have come from the same logger, cut at the same
time, if I had to buy more.

A paradoxical, though useful side of this is that, when doing a
signature piece, like the highboy that I am drawing now, you can, by
careful selection, have a cherry piece with elements that will pop
out.

My frames and stiles for this project will be quartersawn light
complecxioned cherry and from the bole. My feature pieces on the
flatwork (Door and drawer faces), will come from a darker and more
figured bole.

The carved and turned pieces will come from individual slabs, selected
for figure and color that will contrast with the others.

When I'm done, if I do it right, I'll have a piece that is all cherry,
but will have degrees of figure and color appropriate to the use.

I'll have to buy about two hundred and fifty percent of the net wood
needed, but this will allow me to use the sapwood for interior pieces,
that would otherwise have been poplar or maple.

The good news is that the rough cherry will cost about $4.00 a board
foot, bought in this quantity - excepting the figured stock.

I hope it works.


(watson - who is still agonizing over the choice between ball and
claw, and bracket feet.)


Tom Watson - WoodDorker
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/ (website)

"Tom Watson" wrote in message
news

(watson - who is still agonizing over the choice between ball and
claw, and bracket feet.)


Depends on whether you've done your once-in-a-lifetime set of ball and claw.
Made mine from Marlowe's book about 25 years ago, have never even wanted to
go back.

On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 12:40:20 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article .com, "Jim" wrote:
When fresh cut, Cherry has a white sapwood that turns almost as dark as
the heartwood as air & light get to it, so probably it will mellow.

Well.... the sapwood is indeed white, or nearly so, when it's fresh, and it
*does* darken over time. But to say that it becomes "almost as dark as the
heartwood" is a bit of an exaggeration. I have a cherry bookcase built almost
18 years ago on which the sapwood on the sides is still clearly visible.
================================

I do not use a lot of Cherry ...mostly because of the coloration
changes...

Sunlight will darken the wood over time... BUT as the above poster
mentioned wood that is not expossed to sunlight will
take forever to naturally darken...

Bob Griffiths

In article , Bob G. wrote:
On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 12:40:20 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article .com, "Jim"
wrote:
When fresh cut, Cherry has a white sapwood that turns almost as dark as
the heartwood as air & light get to it, so probably it will mellow.

Well.... the sapwood is indeed white, or nearly so, when it's fresh, and it
*does* darken over time. But to say that it becomes "almost as dark as the
heartwood" is a bit of an exaggeration. I have a cherry bookcase built almost
18 years ago on which the sapwood on the sides is still clearly visible.
================================

I do not use a lot of Cherry ...mostly because of the coloration
changes...

Sunlight will darken the wood over time... BUT as the above poster
mentioned wood that is not expossed to sunlight will
take forever to naturally darken...

I'm talking about the *outside* of the bookcase, where it *is* exposed to
sunlight - the sapwood is still noticeably lighter than the heartwood. It does
get darker, yes, but it will never get quite as dark as the heartwood.

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

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

"toller" wrote in message
...
I bought some curly cherry at a lumberyard about 3 hours away.

After planing I find one piece is significantly lighter. I am pretty sure
it is heartwood like the rest; it is just lighter. I don't have enough
wood to not use it, and sure don't like the idea of a full days trip to
pick up one more piece. (sure, I should have bought a surplus, but the
stuff is expensive!)

Should I expect it to get closer to the rest over time, or will it remain
lighter. I could put a light stain on it (I have done that with walnut
sapwood) but don't want to if it will blend naturally.

Thanks.

You might try giving that 1 board a "head start" on aging by placing it in
the sun for a while. Good Luck.

Mike

I've found that in freshly planed cherry, the sapwood is sometimes hard to
tell from the heartwood. They're both pretty light in color - particularly
in kiln dried lumber. I've built pieces that I thought were all heart only
to see the aging process expose the sapwood. The sapwood will NOT darken
anywhere near the color the heartwood will over time - in my experience the
aging proces of cherry just makes the sapwood more noticeable.
If you're not sure you have sapwood in a piece, expose it to sun for a few
days and you'll see some noticable color differentiations. In flatsawn
lumber, the sapwood is sometimes confined to just one face of the board and
some careful use of the board may hide it.
You can often do some nice things with sapwood by carefully incorporating it
into the design of the piece. I've seen some beautiful designs that really
highlight the difference between heartwood and sapwood coloration.

My 2 cents - Gary in KC


"toller" wrote in message
...
I bought some curly cherry at a lumberyard about 3 hours away.

After planing I find one piece is significantly lighter. I am pretty sure
it
is heartwood like the rest; it is just lighter. I don't have enough wood
to
not use it, and sure don't like the idea of a full days trip to pick up
one
more piece. (sure, I should have bought a surplus, but the stuff is
expensive!)

Should I expect it to get closer to the rest over time, or will it remain
lighter. I could put a light stain on it (I have done that with walnut
sapwood) but don't want to if it will blend naturally.

Thanks.

toller wrote:
I bought some curly cherry at a lumberyard about 3 hours away.

After planing I find one piece is significantly lighter. I am pretty sure it
is heartwood like the rest; it is just lighter. I don't have enough wood to
not use it, and sure don't like the idea of a full days trip to pick up one
more piece. (sure, I should have bought a surplus, but the stuff is
expensive!)

Should I expect it to get closer to the rest over time, or will it remain
lighter. I could put a light stain on it (I have done that with walnut
sapwood) but don't want to if it will blend naturally.

Thanks.



Someone at a wood supplier once mentioned to me that steaming cherry
(lightly I presume) will darken the heartwood/sapwood.

I have never tried to to verify the information. If someone has an
appropriate piece of cherry and is set up for steaming maybe they can do
a quick test and let us know...


--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek

In article , WillR wrote:

Someone at a wood supplier once mentioned to me that steaming cherry
(lightly I presume) will darken the heartwood/sapwood.

Hmmm... never heard that about cherry before. Works for walnut, tho.

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

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
m...
In article , WillR
wrote:

Someone at a wood supplier once mentioned to me that steaming cherry
(lightly I presume) will darken the heartwood/sapwood.

Hmmm... never heard that about cherry before. Works for walnut, tho.


Not as well for cherry, and the whole looks a bit muddy. Turners who've
microwaved green pieces are familiar.

(Doug Miller) wrote in
m:

In article , WillR
wrote:

Someone at a wood supplier once mentioned to me that steaming cherry
(lightly I presume) will darken the heartwood/sapwood.

Hmmm... never heard that about cherry before. Works for walnut, tho.


Isn't that something that needs to happen in the kiln processing?

And I agree with George. Some of the stuff that seems steamed has a very
muddy look to it. Maybe mine was dyed somehow. It came from unused
kitchen cabinet mistakes and overruns. The price was one JOAT could
appreciate, though.

Patriarch

In article 36, Patriarch wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote in
om:

In article , WillR
wrote:

Someone at a wood supplier once mentioned to me that steaming cherry
(lightly I presume) will darken the heartwood/sapwood.

Hmmm... never heard that about cherry before. Works for walnut, tho.


Isn't that something that needs to happen in the kiln processing?

Yeah. Sorry, should've clarified that to begin with.

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

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?