Hi John, I have a question regarding sap wwod on cherry. I’m building a chest of drawers out of cherry, in arts/crafts style with
1-3/4″ corner posts. After planing an 8/4 x 8″ x8′ board I found a lot of sap wood on the corners of the board. Most of it can be hidden, but some will still be exposed. The front face of it is nice. Do you think it is possible to try and color it or is it a waste of time. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank You.
Replies
Cherry
You could stain it, your best bet would be to use a dye such as the transtint mixed with alcohol, the dark vintage maple is a good base for cherry with maybe a touch of reddish brown, use a weak mix and build up to the tint you want, an air brush will work well for this. Note the stained section will not darken with age as will the rest of the heartwood.
With that being said, it is hard enough in this day and age to get a nice flow of grain and color in a large piece without introducing sapwood into the mix. Personally I don't allow it. Why waste time and effort building a nice piece of furniture to have it ruined by a poor selection of wood.
Good Luck
Rob
Hi Robscaffe, Thanks for the feedback. You confirmed what I thought. After posting this, I was thinking about it and decided to cut out the sap wood and and fill it in with a matching piece. After cutting the 8" board into 4- 2" square blanks, I realized that the pieces could be orientated in such a way that only a corner of the exposed top 2" of a rear corner post would be visible. I am thinking of slicing a corner section off that one and gluing in a piece with matching grain. Thanks again for taking the time to help. KNOTHEAD101
Don't Compromise
Sorry to be slow to answer this, but I have been away on business and then tied up by the holidays. You seem to have solved your problem already but I will second the advice you have already gotten: Don't compromise on wood for project, it isn't worth it.
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