A friend wants me to make a coffe table and two end table tops. Most of her furniture is cherry. Cherry plywood is way too expensive for this project. I could go the veneer route, but I am thinking that I might be able to get away with a good piece of 3/4 birch ply edged in real cherry.
My question is, what combination of finishes would allow me to blend the two woods appropriately, if not seamlessly?
I have some (old) Parks water-based Wild Cherry stain, but I didn’t particularly like the look of it on a sample. I am inclined toward a gel stain for this project.
Thanks.
Replies
I am no expert when it comes to furniture made of cherry, but I don't think birch, solid or plywood, would be my first choice. I have a tool cabinet made of birch which shows both the light and darker colored parts of the veneer. Without knowing the dimensions of your projects, I would consider building the tables of either alder or maple solid stock then use some scrap pieces to try to match the finish as closely as possible to that of your friend's pieces.
Hope this helps.
T2
I don't think you'll ever be completely happy trying to turn birch into cherry. If I had to do it, I'd try a dye stain, not a pigmented stain.
A sheet of 3/4 cherry ply is about $85 in my area. That's the equivilent of 32 board feet of hardwood (with no waste) so it's actually a bargain at about 2.70/bd ft. I'd have to spend the extra 45 bucks for cherry over birch and save a lot of trial and error.
Ian
Carefully selected Popular can come pretty close.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
Could you work the dimensions for the three tables so you can get all the tops from one sheet? Plywood can be bought with one side cherry and the other side scrap veneer, which brings the price down. You could also glue ¼" cherry plywood to ½" birch plywood. But, if it were me, I'd spend the $20 more for cherry plywood in the first place.
To answer your more specific question, when I built my house I wanted cherry on a pine budget. So the builder made all the trim out of #1 pine. I gave the builder a piece of cherry that I dismantled from a piece of furniture I built. He had the finishing of all the doors and trim done by a furniture finisher. He made the color match almost exactly. Adjusting his technique, he made both the birch doors and pine trim all match the cherry sample. The only thing was that the grain from pine does not look like cherry. But, many of my guests don't know better.
He finished the wood by using wood dye, not stain. He dissolved dyes in water, testing and mixing several colors, until he got the color he wanted. He sprayed the dye on the wood. He mixed different colors for sapwood and heartwood. Then, he dissolved other dye in lacquer thinner and applied it. Finally, the finish was lacquer. I tried to pry out some more details from him, but he would not reveal any more. So, that's all I know. But using dye instead of stain was the key.
Makin 'Sawdust ,
If you feel you must use Birch plywood try and get red birch veneer. This in itself will look closer to Cherrywood to begin with. However the cost per sheet is not that much less than Cherry . When you said Cherry is "way to expensive" for this project is that because it is for a pal and you want to save them money? If this were a commissioned piece for a customer would you take the same approach ? Really it all depends on what you want to end up with as the finished product. To only save $35 or maybe $40 dollars and then go through many trial and errors on the staining process and perhaps still not come out the way it could have been , may be penny wise and pound foolish IMHO .I guess what I am trying to say is don't sacrifice the quality and end result, only based on todays cost , because in years to come the end results will outweigh the benefits of cost savings .Lastly working for friends can be dicey , if you don't charge them enough , your heart may not be in your work. The friend may feel you did not do as nice a job as they expected. Generally speaking your friendships are worth more than any piece of furniture . Personally I charge friends full price and do the job to the best of my ability or I don't charge them at all .Anything in-between can be trouble .
good luck dusty
Don't know when you posted this, a very good point! agriffee
dusty,
I agree with you about charging friends.
One of my Rules Of Life is this: "They'll remember what a lousy job you did, long after they've forgotten how cheaply or quickly you did it."
This rule has never failed me throughout a long and eventful life.
Enery
Wasn't planning on charging her anything, except materials -- hence the price concerns. It's up to her. I'm just researching alternatives.
For the best match with the existing furniture, you should stick with cherry and let it age/darken naturally. Birch (or maple or poplar) can be finished to a "cherry" color, but the grain is different and you have to decide how dark you want to finish it. If you give it a natural looking cherry finish, the real cherry will darken over time and the birch will stand out.
There aren't very many stains that work well on birch; many cause bad blotching. Dyes can have the same effect. There are a few brands I've used that do a pretty good job on birch; the one I use most comes from M.L. Campbell. Campbell has two "cherry" stains; the first is just "Cherry," and the other is "Traditional Cherry." Traditional Cherry is a little redder. Both are pretty dark to give an "aged" cherry color.
To get a dark cherry color on birch, I use a multi-step finish. First I dye the wood a light orange to pop the grain and figure. Then I use a wiping stain over the dye. After the stain dries (about an hour) I spray a clear coat to seal the dye/stain. I sand the sealer coat smooth and then I add some reddish brown dye to the finish and spray that over the seal coat. Here's a color sample step board of the finish;
"Cherry" finish sample on birch
The orange dye (bottom section) does a nice job of enhancing the grain and figure in the wood. It also acts as a highlight color that shows through the stain. It gives the birch a greater sense of depth to mimic cherry a little better. The stain (middle section) provides most of the "cherry" color and the toner (dye in the finish; top section) adds a little more color, depth and helps to even out the overall appearance. here's a picture of a little coffe stand in my shop with this finish on it along with a close-up of the grain;
"Cherry" finish on birch cabinet
Close-up of the grain
Paul
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