Replies

1. 
   Brian_E._Howard | Feb 02, 2001 04:06am | #1

   *
   Just suntan the bowl for a couple of days before you apply your finish. Cherry darkens nicely with exposure to sunlight. Turn hourly to get an even tan!

1. 
   wedgehead | Feb 05, 2001 05:00pm | #2

   *Thanks for the reply. Thats exactly what I am doing. Finished it a few days ago, but I have already applied my finish on the lathe. Don't think it will affect the darkening process much though.

1. 
   marshall_lewis | Feb 15, 2001 01:32am | #3

   *I have read of aging cherry with a lye ( sodium hydroxide) solution, will the solution affect a tung oil finish? Do you have to neutralize the caustic after applying?

1. 
   marshall_lewis | Feb 15, 2001 01:37am | #4

   *About 20 years ago, I bought a quantity of rough cherry, and had about half of it thickness planed at the time. The planed wood is beautifully red all the way through the boards. I recently planed some that I had left rough all these years, and it is still creamy white, even though it is as old as the other and is from the same lot. Why would the planed wood age and not the rough? Do I have to plane all the roughsawn to get it to begin aging? How can I match the aged red portion with the white?

1. 
   Giles_U | Feb 21, 2001 03:25pm | #5

   *See your comment but how can I get cherry to darken where there is little sunlight (like here in London in late winter) - is it UV that does it? I could get a sun tan lamp if it was the right wavelength and that might do it instead. My problem is that I am using some cherry veneered MDF, some of which has been exposed to sunlight except where battens were laid over, leaving light patches on dark. Other bits have had no exposure and are much lighter. It is going in a walk-in wardrobe and there are no windows in that room. Added to this, I am going to lacquer the surface before wax polishing - and assume that will stop any further darkening in its tracks. Help! What can I do, short of stop the job, leave the panels laid out in another room with a window and go away for two months

2. 
   Don_Stephan | Feb 26, 2001 03:13am | #6

   *Marshall: I recently started using some rough sawn cherry that had been stored in very dark barn loft for about 20 years. Very dark red throughout, even 8/4 boards and boards deep in the stack, except for sapwood which remains creamy white.