Replies

1. 
   Eideann | Jul 24, 2020 09:21am | #1

   Cherry darkens over time, quite dramatically, and areas that are not exposed to light will remain lighter for longer. You probably should have just left it in an area that gets a lot of sun rather than redo the top and it would likely even out. Either way, it'll darken back up!

2. 
   geedubbee | Jul 24, 2020 09:42am | #2

   The gallery should have known better. Have they not had cherry pieces in the shop before? <-- that was sarcasm. I too would have just set it near a window without the card in place. Cherry warms and evens beautifully over time.

3. 
   GW52 | Jul 24, 2020 10:11am | #3

   I have some cherry veneer in the shop and the florescent lights did the same thing. I left it in the original clear plastic bag and there was a sticker on the bag and when I took the top sheet out you could see the outline of the sticker. This will also happen to anything cherry if exposed to UV light, you can see faint lines on my kitchen cabinet frames when both doors are open. If you want to darken cherry give it a sun bath.

4. 
   john_c2 | Jul 24, 2020 10:31am | #4

   Agreed with others. I wouldn't have refinished. Either leave it in a sunny spot, or you could mask off the dark areas and leave the light spot exposed, and let it catch up.

   I had a couple of shaker boxes I use for storing tacks, and I put a piece of blue tape on the tops, with the tack size written in Sharpie. When I took the tape off after several months, you could make out both a lightish square from the translucent tape, and an even lighter number from under the dark sharpie. It all blended together after a while.

5. 
   fivebirdscustom | Jul 24, 2020 07:37pm | #5

   I've had it with cherry and maple a lot. Anything left uncovered gets tan lines.

   The crazy one was some logs I picked up on the side of the road in my daughter's neighborhood in La Quinta, CA. I think they are acacia. The ends of the logs were a dark orange color. But, when I cut into the log, the wood was a pink, pale fleshy color with brown and dark orange streaks. I left a pice out on the back patio for an afternoon, and it turned really dark orange. It's a cool effect... I really like the wood, too. My regular every day mallet is made from a big chunk of it. I like how it's aging.

   I should do a box or something and then cover it in strips to get a tiger stripe effect! LOL

6. 
   joeleonetti | Jul 27, 2020 06:56pm | #6

   Not your specific example but yes, I have had similar things happen with cherry. I am now much more careful. In fact, just this morning I was talking to my wife about a piece I just made her out of cherry. She want to put some things on the sides of it. I advised her not to because of unevenness in darkening.

7. 
   lat_axe | Jul 28, 2020 03:33am | #7

   Is the piece of cherry furniture a thing of utility or a thing of decoration? If primarily the former, light and dark patches should perhaps be accepted as part of the nature of cherry things. If the latter, not so much.

   In all events, if stopping the odd light patch is very important, to the degree you can't use the piece for fear of spoiling it's decorative aspect ....... it's not really furniture anymore but rather a wooden sculpture. :-)

   Lataxe

8. 
   joeblade | Jul 28, 2020 12:12pm | #8

   In this case it was both a thing of utility and a thing of decoration. In either case I wouldn't expect a customer to purchase a piece with a square light spot on its top.

9. 
   jfsksa | Jul 28, 2020 12:56pm | #9

   It happened to me with wood flooring. We installed hardwood floors and had a game table with a rug under it. The area under the rug did not darken like the exposed wood. Removed the rug and it evened out after a few months.

1. 
   FredLul | Sep 23, 2021 06:57am | #10

   I also had a problem with partial color fading on the floor. The rug doesn't let the sunlight through. This keeps the floor in its original color. You should only use the rug when necessary https://warevise.com/best-area-rugs.

10. 
    pantalones868 | Sep 23, 2021 05:58pm | #11

    It happens to most if not all woods. There's nothing to do but call it "patina" or"character" and move on. Some woods it can improve the color, others not so much. Cherry does get richer and darker whereas purple heart turns to the color of babypoo. My oak parquet living room floor gets a lot of sun on one side and not so much on the other. It bleaches out near the windows and progressively gets darker going across the room or into the corners. So it goes!
    Shop worn though is another matter ,especially if your in the one off business. It's not like you can have floor models like the Ethan Allen store. Someone decides they want a piece of furniture and they go in the back and get them a fresh one. You would think a store that is more likely a consignment situation should share some responsibility. If they had bought it from the builder and displayed it most likely they would have been more careful with it. If the customer returned it it would have come back to them and then they could pay the builder to repair it!