Replies

1. 
   garth | Jan 15, 2003 09:09pm | #1

   It has been my experience that sap wood does not darken much compared to the hartwood.

   Scott T.

1. 
   Marcello | Jan 15, 2003 09:15pm | #2

   Well, every little bit will help since I will be using a clear finish.  I was afraid of that, will just have to contend with boards and treat them as such.  Thanks.

   Marcello

2. 
   jeffn7 | Jan 15, 2003 10:53pm | #3

   you could use an artists brush to stain the sapwood, and glaze the final piece to blend everything together.

   cherry sapwood will not turn color on it's own.

1. 
   PlaneWood | Jan 15, 2003 10:59pm | #4

   Try Old Masters Interior Penetrating Cherry Stain - 40304.  Best match for 'aged' cherry that I've been able to find.   Hardy ever get the 'blotchies' with it.  Not a sealing stain, so multiple coats can be used.  I brush it on, then feather it out with the brush.

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_KatyPlaneWood

2. 
   jimmys | Jan 16, 2003 01:32am | #5

   jeff tell me about this glaze how do you do that do you have to seal the wood frist then glaze or can you just put on the glaze is the glaze colored or clear

1. 
   jeffn7 | Jan 16, 2003 05:42pm | #6

   seal the entire piece with a wash coat of shellac - 1lb cut

   using some artist oil paint (available at an art store, I go with burnt umber) and a small artist brush, color the sapwood only. Use a cheesecloth to wipe the painted areas down, careful not to color the heartwood.

   using the same oil paint, mix it with a glazing medium (you can get this at an art store as well) and cover the entire surface and wipe it down. This will blend the entire surface together.

   Topcoat with poly.

   the caveat here is that you will not see the cherry darken over time, but you can go darker by using multiple coats of glaze.

3. 
   Marcello | Jan 17, 2003 06:15pm | #13

   Jeff,

   I'll try the process on a scrap.  I need to lay out the table top together and see how bad, or good, the overall appearance is - show it to the client, and go from there.

   So, cherry sap wood does not darken with age at all but the heartwood does?  That is a surprise to me.  So the difference in color now will be even more pronounced in 10 years?

   Marcello

1. 
   jeffn7 | Jan 17, 2003 08:41pm | #14

   yeah, that's the case... which is why a lot of custom furniture builders are moving away from cherry, it is getting more difficult as time goes on to get good quality cherry that doesn't have a lot of sapwood.

1. 
   Marcello | Jan 17, 2003 09:27pm | #15

   well,.....crap!!!         :-(

3. 
   DaveHeinlein | Jan 17, 2003 02:22am | #7

   One thing to think about is the fact that if you stain the sapwwod to match the heart wood cherry, a year later, the heart wood will be that much darker, and you end up with a mis-match. Cherry heart wood continues to darken for well over a year, specially if it is in a low light situation like a bedroom or dinning room.

1. 
   jeffn7 | Jan 17, 2003 02:26am | #8

   that's why you glaze it...

1. 
   DaveHeinlein | Jan 17, 2003 06:09am | #9

   So you glaze the sap wood darker than the heart wood in hopes they will match down the road? I don't think anyone can make a guess on that one. Even if you glaze them all together, the heart wood will still darken on it's own, there's nothing we can do to stop it.

1. 
   jeffn7 | Jan 17, 2003 07:49am | #10

   the glaze doesn't bind to the wood, but rather to the shellac, and is sealed by the poly. In this case, it also unifies the previous coloring of the sapwood to the final finish, and to a careful eye, you would be able to identify the sapwood, but it's a lot more subtle than you would think. Also, the glaze is a tone that is between what aged cherry looks like and what fresh milled cherry looks like... so when the wood ages on it's own, the color comes together.

4. 
   Ricky_Yu | Jan 17, 2003 11:45am | #11

   If you haven't done so already, check out the current issue of Fine Woodworking. There is an article by Teri Masaschi that addresses your question.

1. 
   Marcello | Jan 17, 2003 06:10pm | #12

   Ricky, I do have the FW, but did not realize the article was there.  I will have to take a breather and read it in detail.  thanks.

   Marcello