Help with finishing Cherry

[AlexSwansboro]

I am building some cherry night stands and I am at a point where I am ready to finish them. I have applied two coats of Arm R Seal from General finishes to a test piece.

View image in gallery​

The picture above is a piece of the cherry is unfinished.

View image in gallery​

The picture above is a piece of cherry that has two coats of Arm R Seal. The first coat was cut 50/50 with mineral spirits. I would like to have the piece a bit darker while still making the grain come out as much as possible.

What can I do to make it just a bit darker? Will the cherry get darker with time? Can I add some dye to it? If so, can you offer some suggestions?

 

[Joe Scharle]

Cherry darkens when exposed to sunlight. To test how much, partially cover your test piece and see how much darker the exposed area gets after a day in the sun. Since I'm not a finishing expert (1 year experience, repeated 50 times!), my schedule for cherry is shellac or wipe-on if protection is needed. I've tried conditioner and wash coats of shellac before staining, but at least one board will blotch. So I quit staining!

 

[AlexSwansboro]

Cherry darkens when exposed to sunlight. To test how much, partially cover your test piece and see how much darker the exposed area gets after a day in the sun. Since I'm not a finishing expert (1 year experience, repeated 50 times!), my schedule for cherry is shellac or wipe-on if protection is needed. I've tried conditioner and wash coats of shellac before staining, but at least one board will blotch. So I quit staining!

Wipe on polyeurothane? What brand?

 

[AndyET]

Hi,

I recently completed a bedroom set (King size bed, 2 night stands, lingerie chest, cedar chest, chest of drawers, dresser). These I made from Cherry and Curly Maple. I also wanted to have the cherry darker.

I used a single coat of minwax cherrywood 607 stain which I wiped on with a paper towel and let it dry overnight making sure there are no streaks or blotches.

Then I used 3 coats of Minwax Polyurethane. (we like the gloss version of this, but you can use a semigloss if you prefer) I like to put 2 coats of poly and let each of them dry overnight, then use a 220 grit sand paper to smoothe the surface before adding the 3rd coat.

I find this works for me. It adds a deeper cherry color (which will continue to darken over time as it is exposed to light, however, it is my experience that in a bedroom the darkening process will be much slower than if the piece was in a living room, den, or other room that had more light in it).

I have some of the bedroom set posted in my photo gallery. Please contact me if you would like more details or for further discussion if you have an interest in my process.

Regards,

Andy

 

[Joe Scharle]

Any oil based varnish can be thinned to wiping consistency. Or you can buy Minwax polyurethane.

 

[Weber]

After years of fighting splotches, I have found that ZAR stain seems to eliminate the problem. It's a cross between a liquid and a gel. Available at Ace Hardwares. their wood filler also seems to take stain better than any I have used.

 

[Jeff]

You could consider one of the Trans Tint dyes mixed in a 1 lb cut of Zinsser SealCoat shellac (it's 100% dewaxed; a 2 lb cut in the can) as a wash/sealer/toner coat. The dyes are really concentrated so a little bit goes a long way.

TransTint

The dyes don't obscure the grain like a typical pigment based stain and the shellac helps to pop the grain while preventing blotchiness. :icon_cheers

As always, test your entire finishing schedule with some scrap pieces and write it down.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Try a sample piece w/ an oil (BLO or Tung Oil) wiped on, then wiped off after about 10 minutes. Let the oil dry completely (minimum 24 hours) and wipe on several coats of thinned varnish.

Another option is an oil/varnish mix (equal parts of BLO/varnish/thinner), wiping on several coats over several days. Once you get the look you want, you can wipe on a thinned varnish, but it's not necessary. This process takes awhile to build a durable finish, but the look is worth it.

Bill

 

[red]

If you want to darken the cherry naturally and quickly, just put it out in the sun for several hours. You can then apply your finish.

Red