Hello All!
My very first post…
I become consumed in my newest hobby of woodworking and have come this far – now 2 years – winging it alone. I’ve got a problem I can’t find much information on and now must reach out to you, the pros. ANY help is appreciated.
I’ve worked my way up now to building an end table for my family room. It’s cherry wood body with a quilted maple 4 way matched veneer infield top, edged with a 3″ cherry boarder.
I used a 1# cut de-waxed shellac wash – 2 coats – on all the components to help with blotching and have yet to touch the top.
I researched and decided on Waterlox Original for the finish.
I thought the WLx would tint the cherry more than it has after 2 coats and the wife is worried the table will end up washing into the wood floors in color. My cherry step stools I build and used only Arm-R-Seal has aged a year and is a little darker than freshly prepared cherry and I like it but not in the family room.
I just ordered oil soluble aniline die to possibly mix into the Waterlox.
Is this a good idea to tint the next coat and finish the final coats without tint? If so, best way to?
Will more un-tinted coats of Waterlox darken the cherry?
Again, any advise is welcomed.
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Replies
If the cherry you used is good heart wood and not sap wood it will darken over time with exposure to ultra violet. It will eventually darken to a nice reddish brown patina on its own. Waterlox will influence the color to some degree and darken the wood. However, time and patience is the best to let things happen. I have in the past used Waterlox on Cherry and tinted it with some raw paint pigments (earth) and it worked well to get a better match between draw fronts on a dresser. However, I suggest you wait to see where the Cherry ends up and then decide what to do.
Let the cherry darken naturally. Put it outside in the sun for a few days if you can. It will darken before you know it.
This is a sample block that sat in a window for 3 weeks.
Waterlox is not an oil finish, it's a wiping varnish, made with tung oil. Oil is heated with resin and becomes varnish, not retaining the properties of oil. So I'm not sure the dye powder will dissolve as if it were an oil. Try it on a sample and see.
Thanks for the input everyone. I see a concensus here. Wait and see.
I have two coats of shellac and Waterlox original so I'll add another few WLx and see what happens.
I do want to try the aniline dye so I'll prepare a cut of cherry with the same two coats from each and see how that goes.
Thanks again.
What about a garnet shellac coat or two? I have some alder that I’m using for a tool cabinet and going to see if I can approximate a cherry(ish) finish with garnet shellac.
This is what I ended up with. It's 5 coats of straight Waterlox. As you may see the color is close to the floor's color. I hope it will age into a darker color to present contrast to the oak floor.
Lesson is to color the cherry beforehand. I thought Waterlox would be darker.
Side note.... IMHO... I feel like the 5 coats is a little plastic looking.
If you want to darken it faster just put it out in the sun.
I will add to the consensus and encourage you to wait. You did some beautiful work. I have some cherry pieces that I did some years ago and they have aged to rather dark redish brown and they have not been exposed to direct sunlight, just normal house artificial light and indirect window light.
McLaughlin applies the aniline die first as a separate step. A second application will darken it further. He only uses Waterlox on tops for the extra protection and he lightly sands it out. Sand after each coat of shellac too to prevent a plastic appearance. Check out his utube videos on finishing cherry, he's got a few.