Sun tanning Cherry

Lar55 | Posted in Finishing on July 5, 2002 04:27am

I’ve read a few posts on cherry tanning in the past, but cannot recall reading any messages on how many hours to leave the cherry in the sun. If left for 8 or more hours would that cause any damage to the wood.

Thanks Lar

Replies

Lar55 | Jul 05, 2002 05:22pm | #1
Dave - I've been leaving the cherry out already for 2-4 hours and they do darken a bit. If I put a coat of Danish oil on then place the wood back in the sun, would the cherry darken any faster or would the rate of darkening remain the same?

Thanks for your help,

Lar
LeeGrinding1 | Jul 06, 2002 03:02am | #2
UV light is only part of the process. Oxygen plays a vital role, too. You can darken cherry considerably by exposing it to the sun but the darkenning process takes many months to complete. I tell clients that a new piece will take a year to match others they have. Actually, six to nine months is closer.

Lee Grindinger

Furniture Carver

Edited 7/5/2002 8:03:02 PM ET by LeeGrindinger