I’m making two cherry end tables for my daughter, and she wanted to match her purchased coffee table. I’ve seen similar finish on many other pieces in that price range, and wondering what they did. Looks like a dark reddish glaze to even the color, slight grain enhancement, pores partially filled, surface buffed but not smooth. Checked a drawer edge, and it looks as though they used just a glaze with some hard binder. Anybody familiar with what they typically use?
Don’t know if I should match it (looks blah to me), refinish it (may be time and trouble) or build her a new table (lots of time/money).
Gerry
Replies
New table. Do it right.
Rich
Gerry, one of the nice things about cherry is that it is so beautiful that each piece will demand its own attention. My personal opinion is that I would try to match the new pieces as close as possible without improving on the finish of the coffee table. Is the coffee table a unique piece or is it a production piece.
Steve - in Northern California
Steve,
The coffee table is a production piece, about mid-grade. To me it looks like painted wood, but she paid quite a bit for it and has had the table a couple of years. I was thinking of starting with a light dye, feathered to blend the sap/heartwood and slightly darken it. If grain enhancement not enough to match, then surface sand and spray again slightly. Alternately, a light pigment. Then two light seal coats of shellac, scuff sanded. The next step would proably have to be a glaze to match the color and intensity of the coffee table, then a satin topcoat.
I'd have to experiment with this first, and guessing what they used would make that easier. (It would also tell me how hard it would be to strip it:-)
Gerry
Oh man, thats a ton of work just to match something that has no real sentimental value. Personally, I think the tables will be around for a lot longer than that table so why not just make the new table and give her a complete matching set that she will be able to cherish as something her dad made with his own two hands just for her. Thats my take on it, mush and all.Steve - in Northern California
Steve,
Yeah, I hear yah. Just that I already made half her furnature that's of wood, and the wife has enough projects staked out to cover through my retirement, whenever that happens. I'll probably just finish these and go ahead with the light dye. Then see how close a match I can get with a scrap and let the two of them decide. Maybe there's somebody around who's done this before. I'm not supposed to think for myself too much, they say...
Gerry
I was in a similar situation 2 years ago. I had to build a solid cherry bookcase to sit upon a production made executive type desk. I'm not much of a finisher. I know the basics, but that's about it. Anyway, I dinked around trying to mix and match various stains to try and get that dark fake aged cherry look. Finally I took a drawer from the desk to a local place called O'learys paint and they matched it identically. 1 quart was $15, but hey it was dead nuts and it saved me the hassle. They called it a wiping stain. It was also really thick, almost like paint. It worked great though. Next time, I'll head right there instead of wasting my time trying to do it. Like I said, not much of an finisher. Well, just to rub it in again, I'm off tomorrow morning to New Hampshire to take the Windsor chairmaking class. 13 hour drive. I'm going to stop by the Shaker Village on the way through. Have fun and good luck...John E. Nanasy
That's about the same price as the glaze I mentioned, which is like a thinned paint. Since there are two females involved, I'll diddle a bit with a sample. If they don't like it, I'll try and find a place to match the old one, as your idea's probably the easiest path. If not, I'll strip and refinish; if not, I'll build a new one...
No, I am not my own master here.
Yes, it's much easier when you're not related to the customer.
Thanks,
Gerry
IMHO;
Finish with a good clear finish and give the wood time to naturally turn. It will, but will probably never match that grain/beauty killing commercial finish.
It now appears that most cherrry is dye stained a brown or brown-yellow undertone, glazed a dark brown, then toned reddish brown. Info thanks to Jeff Jewitt
http://www.homesteadfinishing.com
Gerry
Let me suggest you take it to a professional finish shop. Commercial "Cherry" finishes generally start out as some other wood than cherry. It is bleached, then multiple steps of stains, toners and clear finishes applied to get the color you see. It is not unusual to have 20 or more steps in a commercial applied "cherry" finish.
I agree with Dick. Let the cherry do the work for you by itself. Because cherry darkens so much, I'm guessing that you could have a lot of difficulty getting an initial color match to last for very long. In my opinion, a clear finish is more a more beautiful and personal way to complete the pair of tables.
Tim
Just to see, I left a cherry scrap out in the sun for a week. Yes, it darkened, but nowhere near to what her coffee table looks like. That's actually part of the reason the factory applied a dark glaze, so that it'll mask most of that change.
At this point, the larger pieces are done, so I showed it to my two female oversee'ers. They are starting to think about leaving it natural, instead. Plan is to finish them, then show them a scrap with my suggested finish, and hope for the best.
It's just so much easier doing this for a "paying customer".
Gerry
Gerry, the commercial "Cherry" finish is nowhere near the color that cherry will acquire naturally. Years ago (50-100) furniture made from then cheap cherry was stained with a mahogany colored stain to imitate and mix in with the prevalent high end mahogany furniture. That color became what most folks think of as "Cherry". In addition, much "cherry furniture" is not real cherry these days. Even if it is, it is first bleached in the finishing process to remove all natural color. That way the manufacturer can color the wood to what they want and have it consistent on all the manufacturing run.
If you suntan your wood for 3-5 days, you will get about 80% of the way to full darkening.
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