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Curly Cherry!!! Very nice
- Thread starter Dezmond
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2008
- Messages
- 7,187
Cherry takes stabilizing very well.
or.... if you are going to use it unstabilized, an oil finish brings out the figure and color.
I would suggest using one of the oil finishes that penetrates and builds up a surface like danish oil, tung oil or tru-oil.
or.... if you are going to use it unstabilized, an oil finish brings out the figure and color.
I would suggest using one of the oil finishes that penetrates and builds up a surface like danish oil, tung oil or tru-oil.
woohooo....- Joined
- Oct 5, 2011
- Messages
- 263
I have been using a fair bit of air-dried plain cherry lately for both tool and knife handles. It's a joy to work with sharp tools and, being a closed-grain wood, it takes detail well and finishes out easily.
I finish to suit the intended use, but this often ends up being a variation of multiple coats of oil on scraped or progressively sanded material over a period of weeks or months. Watco's Danish oil or Tru-oil used as lube during sanding through 1500X can give a nice luster without being shiny or plastic looking. Use a hard backing on the papers, rub it down real well when it tacks up and take the time to let it cure well between apps will help get you there. Beware it will darken significantly with any type of oil finish and exposure.
Sure you've heard the old saying; oil once a day for a week, once a week for a month and once a month for a year. Whoever came up with that knew what they were talking about (they just didn't say how important it is to rub it down real well after each application).
If your stuff is stabilized - ignore the above all together. Good luck. awl
I finish to suit the intended use, but this often ends up being a variation of multiple coats of oil on scraped or progressively sanded material over a period of weeks or months. Watco's Danish oil or Tru-oil used as lube during sanding through 1500X can give a nice luster without being shiny or plastic looking. Use a hard backing on the papers, rub it down real well when it tacks up and take the time to let it cure well between apps will help get you there. Beware it will darken significantly with any type of oil finish and exposure.
Sure you've heard the old saying; oil once a day for a week, once a week for a month and once a month for a year. Whoever came up with that knew what they were talking about (they just didn't say how important it is to rub it down real well after each application).
If your stuff is stabilized - ignore the above all together. Good luck. awl
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2011
- Messages
- 263
Double post.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2008
- Messages
- 2,010
DANGER!!
Don't use cherry for a knife handle. It causes knives to break!!
Honestly though.... Cherry is lovely wood. Your oil/finish product choice will help determine the finished look. Tung and True, and linseed oils will allow the wood to oxidize overtime giving you a much darker finish. I used Danish oil on the one above. danish oil will help inhibit that oxidation giving a lighter finish over a longer period.
Don't use cherry for a knife handle. It causes knives to break!!
Honestly though.... Cherry is lovely wood. Your oil/finish product choice will help determine the finished look. Tung and True, and linseed oils will allow the wood to oxidize overtime giving you a much darker finish. I used Danish oil on the one above. danish oil will help inhibit that oxidation giving a lighter finish over a longer period.
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2001
- Messages
- 5,705
If I had some curly cherry I'd drink it. Darn insomnia........ I like soaking it after I have dyed it in a 50/50 mix of boiled linseed oil and turpentine and then letting it dry for several days.
- Joined
- May 14, 2001
- Messages
- 1,414
Cherry can be a very beautiful wood. There is quite a difference in the various subspecies however. I worked in a wood shop years ago where we used a good bit of Pennsylvania cherry which tended to be a little on the soft side. That which grows here locally is usually much harder (Missouri/Arkansas) though there is still a good difference in it as well. I've not hear specifically from the conservation department on cherry but there may well be various subspecies of it making it like some of our other hardwoods (we have three types of walnut & 72 varieties of oak) which can vary a lot in hardness & color. That's the beauty of wood in that each piece has it's own character. It sounds like you have some that will be very nice. Be sure to post some pics when you have a completed knife from it.
Gary
Gary