Problem finishing cherry

[Cary Swoveland]

I am presently finishing a Murphy bed that I've made with cherry lumber and cherry plywood. I am applying a light coat of BLO, then after 24 hours, spraying with dewaxed dark garnet shellac. I'll then finish off with wax. I am finishing all pieces prior to assembly.

I have finished most of the cherry lumber and 3/4" cherry plywood, and it looks fine, like I wanted it to look--not too dark and not very red.

My problem is with a number of plywood panels, made of 1/4" cherry ply. Before finishing, that ply was a lot pinker than the 3/4" ply and the lumber. I thought the dark garnet would kill the pink. After applying three coats of shellac, the panels are much redder than the other pieces (and too red). (Next time, I'll be more careful selecting stock.) What to do?

One option would be to just complete the project (it's for our home) and assume it will all darken in time to a roughly uniform appearance. Will it? If so, how long does that take, depending on sun exposure?

Another option would to apply more coats of shellac to the panels, adding an aniline dye to adjust the color. Is there a way of doing this without making the panels darker than they are now? If so, what color dye, and how do I determine how much to add?

Other ideas? (I don't want to make the other pieces redder.)

Cary

[Tim Sproul]

Another option would to apply more coats of shellac to the panels, adding an aniline dye to adjust the color. Is there a way of doing this without making the panels darker than they are now? If so, what color dye, and how do I determine how much to add?

Other ideas? (I don't want to make the other pieces redder.)

Cary

use green toner. It will darken.....hard to add color without darkening.

Have you tried 'aging' one of the panels? Cherry loses some of the redness with exposure to light and becomes more brown.

[Jim Becker]

Tim brings up a good point...there is danger in spot-toning cherry as the color will change over time and the degree of which will be variable. Exposing the whole project to sunlight for awhile will help accelerate the natural color change and give you an idea if any intervention is necessary. I personally don't worry about it.

[Cary Swoveland]

Thanks for the suggestion, Tim. I really don't want to darken it more, so I think I'll go with Jim's advice and just wait for sunshine to do its work.

Cary