i have been working with cherry for several years and have recently run into problems with sploches of dark “muddy” grain on certain pieces. for example, i built a full length mirror frame sanded to 320, tack clothed, and applied a liberal coat of watco nateral going back with a rag to remove the excess after 8 min. i could see as i applied the watco that the wood was absorbing it strangely and became very concerned. the result was a total lose and i rebuilt the mirror. the second time i used amber shellac and the finish was beautiful and high gloss. now i have built a set of “lockers” for a client i have several thousand dollars on the line and need a relatively easy finish to apply on-site once unit is built-in. The finish also needs to have a satin finish. any thoughts would be so greatly appreciated. thanks eric
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Replies
Try linseed oil and paint thinner.After it's dry, apply your choice of film finish.
You can buy "flatting agent" for shellac. Add a little to make it satin instead of gloss.
Fine Woodworking ran an article in the past year or so on dealing with the problems of finishing cherry, don't recall the issue number.
John W.
eadams,
I have a cherry tray I built last year that has muddy blotches in a kinda stripped pattern. I have been letting it darken naturally...it has no finish and still looks muddy...I'm not sure the finish mades a difference.
I also made a cabinet for my son a few months ago and gave it a couple of thin coats of shellac followed by three lacquer coats, brushed on and then rubbed out and waxed....very nice.
Eric, when you apply a penetrating oil finish to raw cherry you enhance whatever unevenness there is in the porosity of the wood (and cherry is noted for uneven porosity). If the wood has an attractive curl in the grain, the oil will help to highlight it. However, if the uneven porosity is random and blotchy, making this feature more obvious is something you want to avoid.
If you want to de-emphasize the wood's uneven porosity, you want to seal the raw wood with a fast drying top coat that lays a film on the surface of the wood with minimum penetration. Both lacquer and shellac will do this much better than a penetrating oil or even a slower drying varnish. Personally, I prefer using shellac as the sealer coat in that it lends just a touch of amber to the pigmentation and you can apply virtually any other varnish over it.
...So, if you are worried about a case of the blotchies, I'd suggest just sealing the raw cherry with shellac...and then, to achieve a satin, "hand rubbed" look with the least amount of labor, top coat it with a satin varnish. If you feel you'll need more than one application of the top coat, use gloss varnish until you are sure the next coat will be the last one...then use the satin. If you bury it under too many coats of satin, you'll begin to mask the beautiful figure of the wood. And finally, I'd recommend using old fashioned alkyd varnish as opposed to polyurethane. Alkyd rubs out between coats much more easily than does poly. Also, do NOT use any varnish that is formulated with UV blockers.
Eric,
I in the process of finishing some bath cherry cabinets and cherry wainsot. I have gone through a little over a gallon of "highland hardware's" new "water-based Ceramithane" at $44. p/gal. Satin finish applied with brush
This stuff goes on like watco (thin) without all the normal wierdness of water base products. Sanding with 220 grit after lst coat, 2 more coats after that. Each layer lays real flat, looks like laquer.
Only negative is that it doesn't bring out the rich red hue of cherry, more of brown tone. It may be the grade of cherry I was using. Client loves it. Unfortunately no pics to send at this time.
Maybe this is an option for you, maybe not,...... just pitching in!
By the way, Jon Arno, really enjoyed you article in recent FWW and your online extra. Thanks.
Bill
Just did this toy box/blanket chest in cherry, with only Lacquer as the finish, and am very pleased with the result. I expect the same would come from shellac as the first coat - basically to seal the surface, then additional coats of whatever you want.
In general, I never use a flat or satin finish except for the final coat, as someone else already suggested. The satin finishes include a dulling agent that I don't want to build up. In fact, I normally use only gloss finish, then get the satin or semi-gloss, as desired, in the final rubbing.
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Charlie Plesums Austin, Texas
http://www.plesums.com/wood
Beautiful toy box, Charlie...and nice stock selection with the curly figure in the front panel. It's going to be an even prettier piece as its long term patina kicks in.
I think, when working with cherry, 99% of the outcome rests in stock selection. There are a few redeeming tricks you can employ in the finishing process, but if you don't pay attention to color and figure matching of the boards you use on the go-in, you'll never get the most out of this otherwise fantastic cabinetwood.
For cherry I'm still favoring Bartley's satin gel varnish. I sand to 220 or 320 and apply three coats, minimum, 24 hours apart. In between coats I knock down any rough spots with 600 grit. I just finished a kitchen using this finish and can't keep my paws off the wood.
Edited 3/4/2004 8:47:00 AM ET by Lofton
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