Suggestions on what to do with highly figured cherry

[Don Morris]

I have some highly figured cherry I bought years ago that is now stable and ready to work on. The problem is there isn't a lot of it and I haven't done anything with highly figured cherry before. We don't have a lot of furniture in our home as LOML is not a big buyer and prefers a minimalist look. Thus finding a spot for one piece shouldn't be difficult. She actually was with me when we purchased these pieces of wood. When the mill skip planed the cherry we both looked at each other and said: "We'll take it". We knew that if I did a decent job, whatever I built should be attractive.

The two short boards are 4/4 thick X 4' long by 7" wide. The most figuring is in the middle of the boards.

The two longer boards are the biggest problem as they are only 11/16" thick X 6' long by 12" wide. I do have a short board 3' long that looks much like them. A couple places on the long boards would need the board to be narrowed by an inch or two. But since they are 12" wide, I don't think that's too much of a problem.

I've been thinking of an end table, coffee table, desk with accent pieces, etc. Where do you people use this type of wood? Appreciate your input.


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[Andrew Hughes]

How about a blanket chest,nice find on the cherry its really beautiful.

[Lee Schierer]

How about a nice jewelry box.jewel1.jpgjewel2.jpg

[Carl Beckett]

This is the way I like to build furniture. Start with the wood, then let it guide you.

I had some really nice boards on that ended up as a 'tea chest'. 6 drawers and a little door and a secret compartment. Came out great.

I could see something Krenov like coming out of these boards. I like his small cabinets that sit on a stand made for it. Simple, but can be the centerpiece for a particular space (unfortunately my wife is not like yours.... There are no 'spaces' in our house that are not already occupied by 'stuff')

Have fun creatively, and take your time coming up with the right thing!

[Jim Becker]

Don, use that highly figured stock for the "feature" part(s) of a project and match it up with rift sawn cherry for the supporting roles. The look is great and the straight grain of the rift sawn stock will not draw the eye away from the figured components; rather, it compliments things. That's exactly the track I took with the cabinets I build for our addition a few years ago. Drawer fronts were figured like your boards; door panels were veneered with a nice crotch figure and the railes and stiles were rift/quarter sawn (typically from edges of boards) to frame the figured pieces. Note that in the photo examples below, the colors were not yet darkened from time as they were taken just after installation.

[Dave Novak]

Nice work, Jim. Just beautiful.

[Daniel Shnitka]

Show case the figured cherry wood with a hall table. Use the cherry for the drawer front and table top all framed in ash. The contrast of the light ash and it natural straight grain will have the cherry stand out. A lustous finish to the cherry will do more justice to the figured wood than satin oil/wax finishes.

[Don Morris]

Great ideas people, that's exactly what I was looking for. And thanks for taking the time to send the photos. LOML and I really appreciate that! I've got one small project before this, but will send a completed photo of whatever we decide on when it's done...unless I screw it up. In which case LOML will make me a eunuch.

[Stew Hagerty]

I had some similar cherry last year, but just one board. I used it to make the top and front rails of this stand. I used regular cherry for the rest. I bought the baskets first, then sized the frame to fit. The nice thing is that, because it is mostly just an open frame, it doesn't take a lot of wood. You would have plenty left to build something else too.

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