Staining Cherry

[Larry Browning]

Oh, that's a different can of worms. Relatives, or friends of relatives, is a tough situation. I would either do it just for the cost of materials or agree up front on the price. Either way, leaving it open ended only leads to grief. I get calls all the time from friends of friends who know I build furniture, do trim work, etc. You cannot believe how many do not call back after I give them what I think is a fair quote, one I know is far less than a commercial shop would charge. Better to find out how serious the girl friend is about wanting a new table before you spend any money.

John

Oh, she is very serious. The woodworking is almost finished, this is why I am starting to think about the finish. I am not too worried about payment either (well except for the engagement thing!), she probably makes twice to 3 times what I make. I have modeled it after one she saw in a magazine. We made a few modifications to the design. It is quite an impressive piece. The one in the magazine was retailing for about 10 grand! I am just hoping to get 2 grand for mine. I am just hoping it turns out almost as nice as I see it in my mind!

[John TenEyck]

Hmm, OK. So if she knows that retail is $10K, and you customized it just for her, she should have no trouble paying you a "fair" price. Maybe you should just tell her to pay you what it's worth to her instead of you trying to figure out a price that is fair to you w/o risk of upsetting her, your son, or the boss. There's a potential risk to that approach, but if you are only hoping for $2K and the retail goes for $10K that would seem like a small risk considering her income (based on your comment). You haven't showed us any pics yet, but if your woodworking is comparable to the retail piece I think your expectations are too low. FWIW, I've never had a quote refused by anyone who wasn't a "tire kicker", and that tells me I'm not charging enough ! Don't be bashful if your work is good.

John

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> While your cherry will indeed get darker, it's not like the older dark cherry she now has won't also be getting darker over time

Yes, that was my point above. Trying to match an older cherry is always a moving target. The new cherry will be darkening relatively quickly but the old cherry will continue to darken.

[Larry Browning]

There are many unknowns on this project. I have looked at he china hutch and it is my best guess that it is cherry, however it might not be. Plus, she is not dead set on them matching perfectly. Just sort of close. What I am trying to avoid is them be way off in color. I also am wanting to stay with a water based final finish. I have had very good luck with Target EM6000. I was hoping to go with that. Plus, I think I already have enough to do the job.
I will try to get some pictures posted of the hutch which should help.

[Larry Browning]

I was able to pay a visit to my customer yesterday and I managed to come away with a shelf from the china hutch. It is actually much darker than I remembered. I will take a picture of it when I get back home tomorrow. Also, after looking at it a little closer, I now think the wood may be mahogany, or something similar.

[John TenEyck]

Holy cow Larry, mahogany? It really doesn't look much like cherry except they both are often finished some sort of red. So now you've got a cherry table that needs to look like a mahogany china cabinet. You certainly have given yourself a challenge. The good news is that the china cabinet isn't going to change color much in the future, so you can shoot for making your table the same color or some nice complimentary shade, which might be the better approach. As much as I love natural cherry, in your case, I would seriously consider dying it, applying a sealer, then applying a glaze to darken it further, sealing that, and then shooting your topcoats, either clear or with some toner added to give it even more depth and tweak the final color, if necessary. It's not as hard as it sounds and would allow you to build color and depth to match/compliment the mahogany piece. However, you go about it, it's time to make some samples. When this is done, you will have earned every penny of whatever she pays you. Good luck, and I look forward to hearing more.

John

[Todd Burch]

My vote - if I had one - would be to finish the cherry to exploit the cherry.

If you are going to make it so dark as to make the cherry look like mahogany, you might as well paint it.

[Jim Becker]

No problem if the table and the other piece(s) don't match exactly...in fact, it may even be better for there to be a contrast, rather than trying to get too close, especially if that hutch does indeed turn out to be mahogany or other open pore species.

[Larry Browning]

I am pretty set on top coat being one of the waterborne finishes from Target Coating. I have uses their EM6000 on several projects and have bee very happy with it. However, since this is a dining table I was wondering if maybe they had one that was a bit more durable, such as EM8000cv. They have other products as well. I have been reading their web site, but really don't know which one would be the best for this application. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
BTW: they are have a 30% off plus free shipping thru Monday, so I want to order before then.

Thanks,

[John TenEyck]

I haven't used it yet Larry, but I would think that the 8000 Conversion Varnish would be their most durable topcoat for your application.

John

[Larry Browning]

Well I finished the table and delivered it yesterday. She was very pleased. I used Charles Neil's blotch control, followed by Transfast dye, shellac, and Target 8000 Conversion Varnish. Think it turned out well.
table2.JPG

Thanks to everyone who help me on the project. It was VERY challenging for me, but I learned a lot and did lots of new techniques.

[Todd Burch]

Looks nice Larry!

[Prashun Patel]

Awesome. Can you post some more pictures? Specifically of the base and the coloring?

[Larry Browning]

Awesome. Can you post some more pictures? Specifically of the base and the coloring?

Thanks, it was a very big challenge for me that pushed me to the limits of my skills. Unfortunately I no longer have ready access to the table to take anymore pictures. I delivered it to Little Rock over the weekend which is about 120 miles away. So no more photo opportunities. All the ones I did take never really captured the color very well. The one above looks pretty blotchy where the sun is shining on it, but it really is not that blotchy looking. I do have another thread that shows the base a little better. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ble-top-wiggle

[Larry Browning]

I was just sent a new picture of the table. I think it may be the best one yet.
IMG_0386.jpg