Replies

1. 
   Ricks503 | May 31, 2005 06:19pm | #1

   I would go with a blond wood like maple.

   1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go        4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
2. 
   WillGeorge | May 31, 2005 06:37pm | #2

   I worked ALOT with Color (only in the printing industry though)..

   In my mind color is color and different lighting will change the color perceived no matter what you do.. However as posted a blond or neutral color will probably show less change..

   My opinion only.. I think the Gloss or lack will make more of a difference on what the eye sees.

   I am not a 'quality' finisher.. I'm just lucky sometimes!...

   Wood just like paper will show colors very differently and the final gloss makes a BIG difference to the eye... We used many different coatings and papers.. For a really fussy customer we would even print the proof job on several different grades of the 'so called standard' .. paper they wanted... Also with different glosses..

   I think the bid advertising houses even had studies on where the customer would most likely read the item and under what lighting.. Way out of my league!

1. 
   Ricks503 | May 31, 2005 07:00pm | #3

   I am thinking that you are referring to the changes that some woods go thru when exposed to sunlight, like Cherry and Walnut.

   Maple is a good wood to work with as I stated earlier, so is oak. I like maple, and would leave it with a natural finish as some statins will also change color in sunlight over time. In a kitchen I would use a poly finish 1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go        4 - get a new board and go back to step 1

3. 
   jazzdogg | May 31, 2005 07:22pm | #4

   JB,

   I think you may be referring to woods that change their appearance in response to sun exposure (photochemically reactive woods) or oxygen; cherry, padauk, and purpleheart come immediately to mind.

   I just checked R. Bruce Hoadley's "Understanding Wood," and didn't see a list of woods to be wary of in this regard.

   You may want to check finishing books and websites, e.g. http://www.Homesteadfinishing.com, as these are typically situations with which professional finishers have to contend.

   If I had more time this morning, I'd keep digging - out of curiosity.

   Good luck,

   -Jazzdogg-

   Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.

1. 
   Jamie_Buxton | Jun 01, 2005 02:50am | #6

   Yeah, I went straight to Hoadley too, but no dice.   From my own experience, dark woods (e.g. walnut, cherry, and mahogany) eventually bleach out under strong sunlight.   Red woods (e.g. redwood, padauk) go brown.   Light woods (maple, birch, ash, red oak) move toward yellow.   White oak moves toward light brown.  Ebony and wenge seem to stay black/brown, but I don't want to make the cabinetry that dark. 

   The other component to the problem is the finish.   I'll be using a waterborne varnish.   Almost every solvent-carried finish I've ever met goes yellow with age and light, and the waterborne ones don't.

1. 
   DennisS | Jun 01, 2005 03:21am | #7

   Jamie -I'd like to second the notion with regard to color shift in ash!I've got one end of my one year old kitchen cabinets exposed to bright sunlight. It's the most hideous yellow orange now.....(sigh). At least that's my assumption. I have three coats of lacquer on all the cabinets. When I take the sample piece I prepared as a finished product and hold it next to this cabinet end I get a really sick felling in my stomache. I had thought perhaps it might have been the laqcquer that had yellowed(??) The test finish piece has been kept out of the sunlight.Will lacquer turn on us as well?...........
   From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.
   Dennis

4. 
   ring | May 31, 2005 09:20pm | #5

   Jamie,

   I don't know of a comprehensive study of light-reactive woods.  It probably exists somewhere...  But from experience, oak will change very little.  Maple is also good, although it will yellow a bit. 

   A different approach altogether - beat the sunlight at its own game by doing a bleached finish.  For example, walnut bleaches to a beautiful light brown that mimics the effect of prolonged sun exposure.

   DR