staining Cherry

Terry Brown

Member
Messages
6
Location
Rockford, IL
I just finished a cherry blanket chest and it looks great. I have read some about stainning and finishing cherry and sure got confused. It gets blotchy? Need tips on best way to finish it, any ideas?
Terry Brown
 
terry, welcome to family woodworking!
most folks have had very good luck using dyes instead of stain on cherry.
if you go this route the waterbased are more color fast ......tod
 
I'm with Larry. I wouldn't color it with pigment or dye. Shellac and top coat and let the color come naturally. I have stained cherry in the past to get that real dark color. I used Minwax wood conditioner before using the Minwax red mahogany stain, and then after it dries, you need to seal it with something like shellac and then top coat with poly, varnish, etc.

I doubt I will ever do it again though. To me, cherry is too pretty to darken like that.
 
Staning Cherry

Wow, I did not expect all the help! I have been on other websites and never got resposes like this. I thank you for the welcomes I got. About finishing cherry - garnet shellac - I need lesson about what brand, any tips on how to use and what it does. I have done alot of staining with Minwax, wood conditioner, mixing stains ( I understand the color wheel) and water base and poly finishes. I have not used shellac but it sounds like I need to learn. I do know cherry darkens quite quickly and would like to go that route. ( I don't want to make it too dark to start) What about adding a small amount of stain? Dye? to the shellac. If I just use schellac what kind of finish do you guys recommend?
and again thanks for the kind words.
Nothing smells better than a little sawdust!!!!!
 
... About finishing cherry - garnet shellac - I need lesson about what brand, any tips on how to use and what it does. I have done alot of staining with Minwax, wood conditioner, mixing stains ( I understand the color wheel) and water base and poly finishes. I have not used shellac but it sounds like I need to learn. I do know cherry darkens quite quickly and would like to go that route. ( I don't want to make it too dark to start) What about adding a small amount of stain? Dye? to the shellac. If I just use schellac what kind of finish do you guys recommend?
and again thanks for the kind words.
Nothing smells better than a little sawdust!!!!!

In reference to coloring cherry, I suggest you check out the page on my web site, www.plesums.com/wood/cherry.html - I finally took pictures to show some of the differences to my customers.

MinWax is a mixture of stain and dye. I like using it, since it has the advantages of both, but it also has the limitations of both. Remember dye changes the color of the wood fibers, while stain is a pigment that stays in the wood pores (and thus will be darker if the final sanding was coarser, leaving more places to catch the pigment.

Shellac is a "generic" finish that has been used for centuries ... the type and color are more important than the brand. The ideal is to by granules and dissolve it in denatured alcohol for use. Garnet shellac is a fairly dark finish, on the opposite end of the scale from "white" shellac, which is almost colorless. My personal preference is to only use shellac as the universal primer - it sticks to anything, and anything sticks to it, so it can be used "between" incompatible finishes. But there are a lot of people who use shellac as a final finish, especially in antiques and reproductions, even though it is vulnerable to water and alcohol damage.

My current favorite finish for indoor furniture is Target USL, water base, and easy to use, but it does require spraying
 
From my own experience with using shellac vs not using anything, I'd recommend not coloring. Wipe-on-poly by itself works well. After 6 months, the natural color of Cherry stars to kick in really nicely.
 
I also...

do not reco stain on cherry. Its isn't usually needed.. I usually BLO, pad on several coats of garnet dewaxed shellac and if needed, a more protective final top coat such as PL #38 varnish or WaterLox
 
staining cherry

Thanks guy,
I am going to check out shellac on the web. I am thinking I want to try it. I am leaning toward light shellac. ( maybe 2 or 3 coats depending on the color and then finish with sprayed on poly in mabye a satan.
Again thanks for all you help.
I will post a picture after I get it done to see if you (experenced) :) woodworkers aprove!
Terry Brown
PS by the way Jerry Olexa where in IL are you? I am in Rockford, IL
 
Multiple coats of shellac make sense if you are using the darker shellac... to bring some color in. Otherwise use just a coat or two as a sanding sealer, and let your primary finish be the finish, not a thin coat of something over the shellac. My experience (not universal) is that shellac is a little softer, so you don't want a thick soft coat under a hard (brittle) finish.

If you are thinking poly (not my first choice except on floors), be sure you use dewaxed shellac, since shellac naturally contains wax and color. By the time you refine out the wax, the color is gone too. Shellac is a great finish tool since it sticks to anything and anything sticks to it, EXCEPT poly over shellac or anything that contains even the smallest amount of wax.

If you are thinking of a spray can for finish, you can get spray cans of lacquer (often sold under the Deft brand name).
 
Hi Terry; here's a tried and true and simple finish I use for cherry. Not my invention, but a gentleman professional woodworker by the name of Don Kondra in Canada.

The recipe is -

25% exterior VARNISH (spar)
25% PURE Tung Oil
50% paint thinner

1 capful of Japan Dryer per cup of mix...

Mix only as much as you expect to use in two to three days.

I take a 8" square of old T shirt and throw it right in the container of mix, then squeeze it just enough so it isn't dripping all over the floor and apply liberally to the piece.

Keep going over the piece until it doesn't absorb anymore, then squeeze out the rag firmly and give it one more wipe.. within 15 minutes or so dust will not stick to the finish.

Two coats a day, a total of four coats for non wear surfaces such as legs and six coats for tops, etc...

Before the final coat, sand with a foam sanding pad or scotchbrite pad.

The ONLY thing that will keep cherry from darkening is to store the wood in a dark closet

And please, DO NOT STAIN cherry, it's natural color is beautiful all on its own.....

And if you do, chances are the blotching is simply the curly nature of the wood.



One trick to achieve an even color when staining is to apply a wood condition first, Minwax is one company that sells this.... or apply a wash coat of shellac first.

This should give you a more even absorption of the stain.

I prefer the natural color that cherry gets from exposure to light but I do apply a coat of natural Watco to enhance the grain before applying a top coat.

Hope this helps, but you have received some good advice from everyone before me!
 
I'm certainly no finishing expert but on cherry, I much prefer to let it age naturally with no stain. Cherry will continue to darken for a long time and the color is something that just can't be accurately duplicated with dye, stain, or finish. Additionally, if you color the cherry initially, the wood will still darken underneath the dye, stain, or finish and your project will wind up a lot darker than you expect.

If you want to speed up the coloration, put the chest out in the bright sun for a few days to a week - you'll be amazed at how much it darkens.

This is certainly an area of personal preference so go with what appeals to you. But try the sun thing first. If you want to do a test, take a scrap piece of fresh cut (or planed or sanded) cherry heartwood (NOT sapwood)and put that in the sun for a couple of days to see how much it darkens. You can put some masking tape on part of it so that you can tell later how much it darkened from the sun.

Good luck in whatever you choose.

Mike
 
Two cherry projects. 1st is Swmbo's blanket box, with a benjamin - moore varnish , about 14 years old now, which has some sap wood in it. 2nd is a tv armoire I built for a customer, stained with a fast dry ML Campbell windsong stain color called Cordovan, satin lacquer finish.
 
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Hi folks,

I like to "kick start" the darkening with a little color from Watco Cherry.

The dry fit. As you can see here the cherry is very light and has not really seen much sun if any.
dryfit4.jpg


A quick coat of Watco Cherry and a soaking of Watco Natural to further blend the color. I usually do the Natural first, then the cherry and then another flushing of Natural but didn't this time...brain fart.
firstoil.jpg


Minwax Wipe on poly. I've since changed to Waterlox Original sealer as my preferred over oil top coat but this table had to match a set of end tables I originally did with poly. The Waterlox is a phenolic resin varnish and imparts a nice amber hue.

It has seen zero sunlight, hopefully I can get it into the sun before I deliver it.
z-coffee_table1.jpg

z-coffee_table2.jpg
 
Just something to experiment with; I read one time in FWW magazine, a man would use lye to treat cherry. It would hasten the darkening process. It would change very quickly. And then neutralize with vinegar.
 
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