Cherry or Mahogany for bar?

[Andrew Wayland]

I started a thread about finishing a Cherry bar. I've finished most of the carcasses with cherry plywood, and ordered about $200 of lumber to make the face frames....

However I never researched ahead, and now I'm starting to see that cherry is VERY difficult to finish.

Im beginning to wonder: should I cut my losses and continue the build with Mahogany stock? It seems Mahogany is easier to finish: and I could just stain the interior of the cabinets as is, and take a loss on the cherry stock I bought?

[Jamie Buxton]

I don't find cherry difficult to finish. It might be challenging to stain evenly, but the fix is to not stain it. Cherry is gorgeous all by itself. Stain just obscures it. So go ahead with cherry for your project.

[Andrew Wayland]

The problem I have is the cherry will be quite mid-matched. So I need something to make it more consistent.

[Lee Schierer]

I've built several items from cherry and had no problem with color matching as long as there was no sapwood. Cherry darkens as you know with exposure to light so some pieces will appear darker when you first see them, but the sanding and finishing process usually evens this out. I also agree that you should avoid staining cherry.
20130905_1850.jpg20130905_1851.jpg
This entertainment center is now considerably darker.

I think you will also see variations in color in mahogany, even if you stain it.

[Andrew Wayland]

I've built several items from cherry and had no problem with color matching as long as there was no sapwood. Cherry darkens as you know with exposure to light so some pieces will appear darker when you first see them, but the sanding and finishing process usually evens this out. I also agree that you should avoid staining cherry.
20130905_1850.jpg20130905_1851.jpg
This entertainment center is now considerably darker.

I think you will also see variations in color in mahogany, even if you stain it.

Mahoganny already has that darker color, though, and seems to be easier to finish!

Beautiful piece you have there... do you recall how you finished it?

[Stan Calow]

Andrew, having seen your other thread, I would stick with the cherry. Mahogany has a different, less interesting look to it, IMO. But also note that since its grain is open pore, you have to fill it, if you want that smooth, bar top look to it. Cherry is already tight grained. Adding another more complicated step to mahogany. Just my two cents.

[Andrew Wayland]

Andrew, having seen your other thread, I would stick with the cherry. Mahogany has a different, less interesting look to it, IMO. But also note that since its grain is open pore, you have to fill it, if you want that smooth, bar top look to it. Cherry is already tight grained. Adding another more complicated step to mahogany. Just my two cents.

I think the main appeal is the relative ease of finishing VS cherry. Although, now I'm reading that Mahogany is less forgiving in humid environments?

[Gary Tunak]

Hi Andrew,
I'm no experienced woodworker by any means but, seeing as how it seems to be your main sticking point here, I have to repeat the others here in that cherry has never given me any problems with finishing. Can you link to some of the articles or anything you've read that say this, or share your experience so far? I'm curious too since I've never worked with mahogany (another reason you might want to take my input with a grain of salt )

[Andrew Wayland]

Hi Andrew,
I'm no experienced woodworker by any means but, seeing as how it seems to be your main sticking point here, I have to repeat the others here in that cherry has never given me any problems with finishing. Can you link to some of the articles or anything you've read that say this, or share your experience so far? I'm curious too since I've never worked with mahogany (another reason you might want to take my input with a grain of salt )

Are you speaking in regards to Mahogany and humidity? I only found one reference to it specifically, but the more I dig the less I find to support that article's statement.

I could try and hunt it down, but my browser history is littered with articles at this point!

[Caleb Gallentine]

I am pretty new to woodworking but here is my two cents. I have used mahogany on one project and it finished quite well. It was quite light so I stained it with mahogany stain, which it took quite evenly. However, I used cherry on practically everything else I've built. I finished a cherry coffee table with antique oil and it was just as easy as the mahogany. I am also in the process of finishing a cherry kitchen table with Behlen WW Restoration Varish and it is going swimmingly. I have not had any problems with it at all. I also love the way cherry looks and mahogany just doesn't do it for me. My vote goes to the cherry. It will darken over time and the pieces will match so there is no need to stain it.

[Lee Schierer]

Mahoganny already has that darker color, though, and seems to be easier to finish!

Beautiful piece you have there... do you recall how you finished it?

It was finished with Watco Natural Danish Oil. It is an extremely easy finish, but probably not suited for a bar where water and alcohol is likely to be spilled on it. You're going to probably want a multi-coat polyurethane finish.

[Gary Tunak]

Are you speaking in regards to Mahogany and humidity? I only found one reference to it specifically, but the more I dig the less I find to support that article's statement.

I could try and hunt it down, but my browser history is littered with articles at this point!

Hi Andrew, more about cherry being difficult to finish. I was browsing on other forums today and noticed you have another post about wanting the darkened, post-sunlight-exposure shade of cherry, which won't really be possible in a basement, and that's why you're asking about stains. If it helps, I stained one of my cherry projects and it took well for the most part. I know I was not very prudent with my work in the first place and there were some spots that didn't take the stain well, but for the most part, there seems to have been no issues. I started off by applying a very thinned coat of de-waxed shellac.

Hm, now that I have the chance to think back, I thinned it with mineral spirits and not with denatured alcohol. Hah!

[Bob Grier]

Cherry is more interesting grain than mahogany and in my experience is very easy to finish. Uniform sanding is important but filling the pores is a non issue. I have used cherry for cabinets, drawer boxes and fronts, doodads, shelves and built-ins inside walk in closets and pantries, etc. In all cases, the cherry (except the sap wood) turned darker over time no matter what kind of finish I used. I never saw reason to stain cherry. I know some people do and cabinet shops offer it as a way to have a known finish color at the time of delivery. Unless you need to have a uniform color when the project is finished or you want to change the color of the wood I see no reason to stain. Not only is it more difficult to repair or touch up when stained, there is the personal opinion of what looks better, natural wood color or altered color.

I like how easy it is to finish cherry to a very smooth finish using rub on type finish or spray.

Mahogany is softer than cherry and not as interesting grain. I have usually used it for outdoor furniture that I finished with oil or for making little things like trivets that are again oiled.