Need your advice. I want to try my hand at some Stickley, Greene & Greene, Mission style woodworking. Really like G&G but everything I’ve seen seems to be done with oak. Just got “the deal you can’t refuse” on some awesome rough cherry boards and was wondering if you think it goes against the grain (sort of speaking) too much to use this wood in a craftsman style. I’m itching to get started but now have some reservations about spending the time to make something that when I’m done I think “now what the heck was I thinking of??? when done. Any insight into this would be appreciated. Also, if you build in this style with cherry would you tend to go with a dark finish or try to pop out the figure with just coats of lacquer? As you can probably tell I’m fairly new to this and whatever I build will take a lot of time. The cherry is dry, stable and ready for some fun projects.
Thanks in advance,
HarleyDog
Replies
Hey Harley:
We've published a few articles in the magazine and online that use cherry for Arts & Crafts. It's not the most traditional approach but you'll end up with really nice results.
Historically, Arts and Crafts is mostly done in quarter-sawn white oak or mahogany.
Take a look at this bookshelf to see what the style looks like in cherry.
Regarding a finish, my advice is to always take a few scrap pieces from the board you're using and do some sample finishes. Then decide which one you like best. It's worth the extra effort.
Matt
Thanks for the advice. Took a look at the bookcase and I think the cherry looks great.It's kind of a variation on a theme that I like. You guys are awesome. I'm ready to go now and can envision the finished project much clearer now.regards,HD
My two cents:
Much A&C furniture has strong straight line visual elements, that are emphasized by the strong linear grain of oak, and the light color of the wood makes shadow lines prominent. A dark finished cherry piece with spectacular grain may have the effect of camouflaging the A&C look-for better or worse.
John White
Hay John - thanks for the two cents worth - makes a lot of sense so I'm gonna go with cherry and will fiddle with the finish so not to cover up the grain too much.Even being a newbie to all this I have realized that you will never know it all about wood or woodworking so being able to bounce ideas off of you guys really helps.thanks again,HD
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