I’m making some of Norm’s Shaker wall clocks. I’ve done about a dozen and am now making a few more. Use them for presents – everyone is in awe (not really.)
If I merely use a wipe-on poly, will they darken like untreated cherry does? If I use a stain like Minn-Wax cherry, should I use a pre-stain treatment first? I like them to turn out with the nice natural reddish cherry color but I don’t remember how I’ve done them in the past. Too old, I guess. Thanks for the suggestions.
Replies
Cherry will darken over time with the poly finish. Being impatient, I give my cherry a little head start. I apply a coat of linseed oil with a tiny amount of Japan drier added to it. After giving that a couple of days to dry, I wipe on a coat of Bartley Cherry gel stain, and then quickly wipe nearly all of it off. This is like a glaze, and it darkens the wood without hiding the grain. I top coat with de-waxed dark shellac. The resulting finish looks very good, but not too dark, since you want the cherry to have "room” to darken naturally. I’m not sure if you could use poly over the gel stain, since it might want to pull the finish.
I'm not a fan of using an oil finish on cherry - it soaks in unevenly and causes blotching. A simple, but elegant finish on cherry is a coat or two of garnet shellac. I might even add a little reddish/brown dye to the shellac for added color. With clocks, shellac is all the finish you really need - you don't need a durable finish like you would on a table.
I've been experimenting with different finishes on cherry and have a few organized. You can check them out at this link - http://www.boomspeed.com/firstfinish/CherryFinishes01.htm
If you see something you like and have questions about it, just re-post.
Paul
F'burg, VA
I did a cherry table earlier this year- I started with Tried & True Varnish Oil because of an article in FWW. It did blotch slighty, but there were other problems with T&T that I won't go into here. I ended up using 0000 steel wool a month later and applied a couple coats of wipe on poly. Having just looked at the "before" picture, it's amazing to see the difference just 7 months later. The table is in a bright room, not in direct sunlight, but is already a beautiful deep rich cherry.
My (inexperienced) advice: just have patience. They'll look just like you'd like them to in less than a year...
Don,
Before applying a finish you might try exposing the clock to direct sunlight. This will naturally darken the cherry. Experiment first with a piece of scrap cherry by exposing parts of it in 1-2 hour intervals to the sunlight, then check the results. If you have a six inch piece, cover five inches with some cardboard the every hour slide the cardboard down one inch, you'll be surprised after about six hours. Then apply some finish to the entire piece and choose the exposure that suits your needs.
Bill
I'm in the middle of finishing a cherry sideboard. Based upon adivce form Jeff Jewitt, I bagan with a varnish thinned with naptha, wiped on, sanded wet with 400 grit wet/dry paper, then wiped off. No blotching, nice color. Per my wife's request, this I will darken with tinted dewaxed shellac, sprayed, and then finish with probably 2 coats of wiped, thinned varnish. Delay is based upon setting up a spray booth in my basement, which required a bunch of moves and changes.
The varnish overcoat I feel is appropriate for a dining room piece. There will be several coats of clear shellac over the tinted; one can't sand or rub out tinted shellac without changing the color, I am told.
Edited 1/9/2003 5:41:18 PM ET by s4s
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