I just bought some cherry doors, unfinished, to close up my clothes closet (try saying that three times fast).
I am baffled by all of the intricacies introduced here about finishing cherry. I had the good fortune of studying with Tage Frid for a semester at RISD in 1978, and made a cherry armchair under his watchful eye. The only thing he recommended (at least what I can recall…it was the 70s after all) was to use a few coats of Watco, flood applied, wiped down with steel wool.
Granted this is almost 30 years ago, and all sorts of new things have been tried or invented. But I still have that chair, it’s going to sit next to the doors, in fact, and it looks just fine.
Why all the fuss and bother? What’s wrong with a few coats of Watco? Smells great.
Replies
"What's wrong with a few coats of Watco?"
Nothing at all. Done right, it's a beautiful finish. And it's very easy to do (called fool-proof). But it's not fast be any means. Properly done it takes at least 10 days to 2 weeks. That fact is often left out of many discussions or instructions.
And it is not as durable as heavier film coats of shellac, varnish or lacquer. It's more fragile than lacquer applied thin enough to look similar.
But it is beautiful in its own right and as legitmate a finish as any other.
Rich
Don't ever learn anything new. Rather than give you satisfaction that you know more than you did, it will only confirm you know less than you thought by opening horizons to things of which you had never dreamt and which you now must explore.
Since the instructions leave out the time factor, would you mind posting the details here?Thanks!
Tailor,It's simply a matter of the number of applications, the type of wood and the time you wait between applications.I consider the first 2 applications to be the sealer coats. One is not enough. Especially on an open-pored wood such as oak. After the first application, little mounds of finish continue to boil out of the pores as it cures for about 48 hours. That doesn't happen with maple, or other close-pored woods, but I think it's a good idea to always wait a minimum of 48 hours for the second application.Then another 48 hours until the 3rd coat. If 4 coats is going to be the maximum, then let that 3rd cure for a minimum of 7 to 10 days, if not 2 weeks before applying the 4th by wet abrading with 4-0 steel wool or 400-800 grit wet-or-dry silicon carbide paper.I think one or more additional coats after the 3rd at 48 hour intervals really makes a difference. You do the math. There is also a very good argument that the intervals should be quite a bit longer, especially with each successive coat after the second to let the varnish and oil form as hard a layer as possible. If you don't, and the film is soft, the result of each additional application with any kind of abrasion is just to remove most (if not all) the previous film.Oil/varnish is VERY easy to accomplish, and forgiving to a degree not possible with any other finish. But it is not something that can be hurried if you want the real beauty and benefit it affords.Rich
tailormade,
I followed the attached ...came out quite nice. Hope it helps
If you store your brush between applications in an empty ceral bag...wrap tightly...it'll stay wet and save on the clean up.
PS. Just to make life difficult...I attached the Maloof method
Edited 2/14/2005 7:22 am ET by BG
tung oil and varnish mighe be a good choice
Wicked Decent Woodworks
Rochester NH
" If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"
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