Replies

1. 
   Paul_at_First_Finish | Dec 08, 1999 03:06am | #1

   *
   Thomas;

   Different people have developed different techniques to solve the same problem. As long as the technique works and the finish looks the way you wanted, it doesn't matter which one you pick. Check out the article at http://www.taunton.com/fw/features/techniques/cherry/1.htm for two diiferent techniques.

   I prefer to seal the bare wood to avoid the problem. I seal the wood with a lightly colored oil to highlight the grain, seal with a thin topcoat, sand, apply a colored glaze, seal, another glaze if needed, and then apply colored or clear topcoats as needed.

1. 
   Raypov | Dec 09, 1999 06:07pm | #2

   *I agree with Paul there are many different techniques that people claim to work. I think using gel stains gives much better results than normal brush on stains, dye's also work pretty well. Most of the high end Cherry furniture (Harden, Stickley, Ethan Allen, Drexel) you will find is stained and glazed to give that heirloom look.I've tried all these things and wasn't really satisfied. I got in the habit of only oiling with danish oil and that is all I do now. What could look better than the tone and color of aged Cherry anyways.

1. 
   bullet_ | Dec 09, 1999 07:44pm | #3

   *the only surefire way to avoid blotching with cherry is not to stain it.

1. 
   Ron_Brese | Dec 10, 1999 07:52am | #4

   *It is sort of a bailout when people that are self proclaimedfinishing experts start telling people things like "cherrylooks better unstained and allowed to age to its naturalcolor". Problem is, that does not work when Mrs Customer wants a cherry side table to match her mahogany bed roomfurniture. If you are looking to put a lot of color in yourcherry, this is a formula that I have had a lot of successwith. Sand the material only up to 150 grit. Any finer sanding starts closing us the pores in the wood making itless able to absorb color. Mix a stain blocker consisting of2 parts tung oil finish and one part lacquer thinner. Applythis liberally, reapply in areas that soak up the blockerquite quickly as these are the areas that tend to blotch.Wipe off the excess. Apply a water based dye stain. Allowthis material to obtain full saturation and then remove theexcess. Allow to dry completely. Lightly sand areas of raised grain. Then apply an oil/solvent based stain. Thisyields very thorough coloring. The water based dyes don'tproduced a color that I would leave as a final color. Theover wiping with the traditional type stains really warms the color up, and gives you 2 layers of color. Experiment tofind what combinations of dyes and stains give the colors you are looking for. One final note: lighter colors will tend to show more contrast between the blotch prone areas and the surrounding wood.

1. 
   CStanford_ | Jan 14, 2000 10:24pm | #5

   *We're fighting a losing battle when Drexel and Ethan Allen are called high-end. I built better looking furniture with better grain match than those hacks when I was sixteen years old. High-end for manufactured furniture perhaps, but nowhere near the standards of the furniture makers of old whose tradition some of us are desperately trying to preserve.Try tinting a Danish oil product, or use the tinted version of Watco. The results should be acceptable to Mrs. Customer who wants a piece of Cherry stained to look like Mahogany. I don't mean to sound mean, I know it's tough to deal with customers. Simply my two cents and up on my soapbox today, gents.

2. 
   rich_mich | Oct 07, 2000 04:58am | #6

   *use a hide glue wash, sand and finish-no blotching-it's a method that has been used for years

3. 
   jonathan_eddy | Dec 14, 2000 03:16am | #7

   *I will be finishing two cherry blanket chests for a customer. Will successive coats of Waterlox build up any surface film at all. What about the relativemerits of Waterlox vs. polymerized tug oil varnish vs.Watco vs danish oil vs. satin varnish when trying to obtain a "natural" look? Please be specific aboutthe relative merits of the finishes you recommend.Thanks for your feedback.

4. 
   joshua_r_obercian | Dec 14, 2000 08:04pm | #8

   *I am a self-proclaimed non-expert at finishing-I f someone wants a table to match their mahogany dresser-then I will gladly make for them a mahogany table. I use almost exclusively oil finishes, some things I simply wax. I do think if you are going to color wood, the tinted watco does a nice job, without hiding the wood. I too laugh when I see Pine stained to try and look like some kind of mahogany or rosewood. For me- if you are going to stain to like some other wood- you might as well paint the damn thing. Everybody stay off my case about this- it's my opinion and I never claim anything I say has any meaning outside of my world. Have a nice day.

5. 
   Drew_Nyman | Dec 15, 2000 11:33am | #9

   *It's important to learn to "read" the grain of wood when making your selection at the lumber yard. However, you can use either water stains or Chemicals to achieve the color that you desire. BOTH are preferable to oil colors in my opinion. some woods are just going to have many different colors. If that's not acceptable, try formica