Finishing Cherry

[Brian Triplett]

Hi.
I finally finished my jewelry case I been making for the wife. The only thing that needs doing is picking a finish and going from there. This is the first time I worked with cherry and I seen so many nice pieces on this board so I thought I would let you help me pick out finish. I bought some boiled linseed oil and tried that on some scrape but it turned a yellowish color and not the reddish color I was hoping for. I sure there is some trick I am missing so any help would be great. Thanks guys and gals.

Brian

[Dick Parr]

Take it out into the sun for a couple of hours at a time and it will darken. Cherry will continue to darken with time, the sun just speeds it up a little. I would use a number of coats of poly after that to help protect it.

[Roger Kirkpatrick]

Cherry can be a pain to finish if your trying to add color. It gets blotchy without first sealing the grain. The easiest way to add color is give it a sun tan. Park it in the sun for a day and see the color change. Try it with some scrap, you may like it.
Short of that a gel stain does well. Do not use regular oil based stain on cherry (or maple for that matter). It will disappoint you with a blotchy appearance.

[Jim Guy]

Garnet shellac - the more you put on, the darker it gets. As the others have said, time and sun will darken as time goes by.
Looks great.

[Steven Wilson]

Garnet, Kusmi I, or Kusmi II shellac for a couple of coats. Follow with lemon or blonde shellac. If you want a little more red-brown color then add a bit of Transtint Red-Brown dye to the Shellac. In any case, after a couple of years the Cherry will naturally develop a nice red/brown color.

[Jim Becker]

My finishing regimen for cherry is BLO to accentuate the figure followed by either a) just wax for decorative items, b) garnet shellac either as a finish coat or as a barrier coat before a clear topcoat appropriate to the project. The garnet shellac adds a little tone to the piece for more "instant gratification" while the cherry takes its time to oxidize to a darker color. The pictures below represent the same or simlar project to yours with a little exposure to sun and just the BLO and wax for a finish. After four years, its now a nice even red-brown color.

[Brian Triplett]

Thanks guys, I guess time is the best finish.

[Lee Schierer]

I use Deft Clear wood finish. It protects the wood and the finish itself does not darken or yellow with age like polyurethanes. It will allow the cherry to darken naturally as you can see in the attached frame.

[Jim Becker]

I sense a theme in that room, Lee...

I also really like the beading on the frame. Nice design!

[Kent Cori]

Brian,

I did a couple of jewelry boxes using cherry about 18 months ago. They started out looking a little lighter than the sides of the box Jim showed in his photo. A year later they both looked a little darker than the top and drawer fronts in his photos. I did set them out in the sun for a few days to speed the darkening process.

I finished both with a mix of equal parts of gloss poly, tung oil and BLO. They came out beutifully and I, SWMBO and SWMBO Jr. were quite happy with the results. I did use clear shellac on the drawer indards.

Were I to do it again, I would try Jim's BLO and garnet shellac approach for the first two coats. This would have provided the same "grain pop" that my mixture provided but would also help blend in the variations in the wood itself. I would then add a couple of coats of wipe on semi-gloss poly for protection.

[Dick Parr]

Jim I thought you went over and finished the chest for him when I saw your picture. Very nice.