I am making a wardrobe in European cherry. Mostly the wood comes from a local sawmill and is a medium dark cherry colour, with the traces of green and red that appear in English Cherry. This is what I have used for the carcass, cornice and door panels. Sourcing stable English cherry long enough for the door frames has proved very difficult and I have had to resort to cherry described as ‘European’ – judging from the location of the sawmill (Norwich, in the east of England), I suspect this means French. Unfortunately this cherry is significantly lighter in colour than the english stuff I have. I understand that in France, steaming is used to spread the darker pigment to the sapwood (this is certainly done for Walnut).
Can anyone advise on the best strategy. I would rather not stain the light wood, but European cherry does not seem to darken in the same way as the American variety and I have had a sample of this French cherry in the greenhouse for six weeks now and it does not seem to be darkening very much. Should I stain the door frames anyway or leave as is and finish them (Danish oil). If the frames do not darken is there a stain that can be added to subsequent coats of Danish Oil to darken the frame later?
Is fuming or the use of Lye likely to be effective in this situation?
Many thanks in anticipation
Jim
Replies
Jim,
Have you considered polishing with shellac tinted with Jim Jewitt's Transtint dye? I had a problem with cherry a few years ago (here in America) and made progress towards a remedy by tinting some dewaxed shellac and testing pieces until arriving at the shade I wanted. I don't know what U.K. magazines have published about "toning" vs. staining, but the difference as I understand it is as follows. When we stain, we use a medium to convey pigment onto the surface of the wood. The pigment changes the color, but does so by actually lodging in the wood. With media of different and sometimes uneven pore sizes, more pigment can lodge there, sometimes enhancing or creating a zebra or very blotchy appearance. Toning is a process by which a film finish, for example, is tinted to produce a desired color. As it doesn't carry pigment to the pores, but leaves the shellac over the surface, the coloring is even. Hence its usefulness in finishing blotch prone species. One can experiment with different tints and varying amounts of drops per volume of finish and control the ultimate shade pretty well. I used shellac only as an example. Transtint, as a particular product, is extremely versatile. That is one of its chief advantages.
Finally, for a really terrific Q&A-style forum, where you can run questions by Jeff Jewitt himself and get quick, direct replies, go to the Homestead Finishing Products webpage. It can be found at http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/
Cheers.
Edited 4/25/2002 1:08:38 PM ET by GregB
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