I finally put together the eighteen kitchen cabinet cherry doors the wife has been waiting for most patiently, about 16 months. Anyway, I am curious about the method of putting on two thin coats of shellac, then using dark umber and a glaze mixed together, and finally coating with poly. Most of the doors have little or no sapwood, and that I have generally been able to put on the inside. Any of you guys ever use this method? Any other methods?
I want some color, but not too much. I have built with cherry before and used five coats of poly which add depth but not too much color.
Thanks,
Harry
Replies
I love glazes and I use only Star Glazes from Mohawk. They have a burnt umber in quarts that is a very nice red brown and goes well with cherry.
The intensity of the colorant is controlled by the amount of pigmented glazes you use. This is determined by how much colorant is in the glaze (thus you may want to obtain a quart of their glaze extender (more or less clear), and the amount of glaze you allow to be retained on the project/wood surface. You can control this latter aspect by how much you wipe on and by how much you wipe off (or brush out). I use a 2" glazing brush of good china bristle (pig hair) to blend and feather and even out the glaze.
The more coats of finish that you apply (and therein fill more of the surface pores) the more artificial the coloring can become (take for example antique white finishes). A wash coat of shellac (or lacquer) to seal the wood, follow by a light sand to remove the nubs, followed by another wash coat is probably enough of a base.
DO NOT SAND THE FINISH COAT BEFORE GLAZING OR YOU WILL GET PIGMENT IN THE SANDPAPER SCRATCHES AND IT WILL SHOW.
Subsequent top coats on top of a glaze can create problems especially if the solvent in the finish is a solvent for the glazes. If you spray, this is less of a problem but brushing applications can create a real mess.
Thanks for the response. The method I was referring to was in AM. Woodworker, April 2002 by Tim Johnson. He mixed the burnt umber in with a glaze and then applied. He does mention that mineral spirits will remove glaze if your finished coat doesn't look right. He then finishes with polyurethane. Do you feel this method is similar to yours? Have you mixed umber and glaze? What finish do you use for a topcoat?
By enhancing the color, do you mean that you want the aged cherry look? If so, try the Old Masters Penetrating Cherry stain (oil based). It gives the best aged cherry look I've ever found and does not blotch. It contain no sealers so multiple applications will darken more. After drying then a thinned coat (50/50) of poly will act as a sanding sealer.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy
PlaneWood
I do not want a blond look or a real dark aged cherry look. You mentioned that multiple coats give a darker aged look. I do not want the blond look nor the dark lok, but something in between. I have used five coats of poly before and it was pretty nice. Would one or two coats of your oil stain darken just a little bit, or is it farily dramatic?
Harry
Harry -
Go to Advanced Search and search on "Cherry entertainment center" and for all messages from "Planewood". You'll see some pics there. That was 1 coat.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_KatyPlaneWood
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