major color change after planing

[Kate Butler]

I have a friend who had a LOT of his native cherry milled to 5/4 last fall. He sticked and seasoned it indoors (unheated 3rd floor) and he has recently begun to plane it. He says that the color changes dramatically (lighter) with the planing and I'm writing to inquire whether the newly-planed lumber will regain it's former, darker color with additional age (after the planing). Intuitively, I'm guessing 'no' since it's already well dried, but I'd like to have someone explain the 'whys' to me. Thanks.

 

[Adkpk]

Yes, it will restore its luster. Planing it brought up some grain. Little pieces that dry immediately. Like saw dust. This gets sanded off. Wetting it to bring up the grain and sanding again and again. Then when it is smooth like glass apply a light oil and bang, it's back to it's original dark luster. It's a lot of work but great fun.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Nearly all woods react with oxygen and/ or UV rays and change color over time. Most woods, including cherry, will darken. Others will lighten, such as walnut.

 

[aquan8tor]

I didn';t know that about walnut, aggie. Learn something new everyday. As far as changing with UV exposure is concerned; I cut some mulberry for a friend, and took home some blocked up pieces roughly 1' square to make into turning blanks later, & it turned from a pretty lemon yellow to a rusty brown in a matter of an afternoon. The sides that were exposed to oxygen but not light changed very very little from their original color.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

I didn';t know that about walnut, aggie. Learn something new everyday. As far as changing with UV exposure is concerned; I cut some mulberry for a friend, and took home some blocked up pieces roughly 1' square to make into turning blanks later, & it turned from a pretty lemon yellow to a rusty brown in a matter of an afternoon. The sides that were exposed to oxygen but not light changed very very little from their original color.

Mulberry sound a lot like paduk. Bright orange when fresh but turns to burgundy no matter what you do.

 

[Woodsurfer]

Yup, in a year that pink cherry will be the classic rich reddish brown color. Sunlight can speed things up. Some people put their newly finished cherry projects out in the sun for few days to darken them up. I never heard of any way to keep the freshly milled pink color, but few would want that anyway.

Ahhh cherry, my favorite wood!:biggrinbounce2:

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Yup, in a year that pink cherry will be the classic rich reddish brown color. Sunlight can speed things up. Some people put their newly finished cherry projects out in the sun for few days to darken them up. I never heard of any way to keep the freshly milled pink color, but few would want that anyway.

Ahhh cherry, my favorite wood!:biggrinbounce2:

Mahogany is another you can do that with. I worked at a custom cabinet and door shop for a while we would even out mismatched colors in exterior door stock by masking the darker areas and setting the unvarnished door in the sun. You had to really watch it because if you left it too long you were in trouble.

 

[woodshop]

As was said, that pink doesn't last long at all. It will darken once again with time. Problem with cherry when using wood from different logs is that some cherry turns darker than other cherry. So for example say you glue several boards together to make a table top. Even if they all look about the same shade of pink/red to begin with, in a year you could have a candy cane look with some of those boards much darker than the one next to it. Point being, if you are doing something like that, try and use all wood from same log if possible. Also... many woodworkers cheat a little and put a cherry stain on their finished project which darkens it to that beautiful cherry real quick instead of waiting for months while it ages. Oil darkens it up pretty quickly also.

 

[Adkpk]

Ah, woodshop something tells me you were the head of your class.

 

[geofore]

color change

The sunshine is a good way to do it to cherry but do it with a piece your not going to use to test it's color change first. Check the piece every 15 miniutes in the sun to get the right color/time in the sun. I do mine with the sun treatment before I put the finish on to darken it. Another thing to pay attention to is the finish you use. Walnut and cherry will darken deeply with an oil base finish but will remain light with a water base polyurathane. For outdoor furniture I use a marine finish polyurathane and I get about 20 years out of 5 coats of clear. To mask the color change in different pieces of cherry from different cherry trees mix up a pint of clear with a teaspoon of pecan and four drops of mahogany and add 15% thinner, brush or wipe on, let set for 5-10 miniutes and wipe off excess and let dry before you put on the finish coats.

 

[Kate Butler]

WOW!! So many tips and great information. Keep it coming Thanks everyone.

 

[Ed*L]

Kate,
I would suggest your friend check the mousture content on the lumber. Since it's 5/4 thick and stored it indoors with no wind to help dry it, it might still be to wet to work.
I let my air dried lumber (indoors also) set for at least 2 years before I touch it.

This is a Cherry table I recently finished, the wood hasn't started to darken yet. Looking back, I wish I would have put a coat of boiled linseed oil on first to give it a jump start on darkening. The final finish is 3 coats of Minwax wipe on satin poly.

Ed

 

[cpm]

Wow Ed;

That table is NICE!

Good job.

 

[woodshop]

Ah, woodshop something tells me you were the head of your class.

Naaaaah... not at all, I was the kid in the back who tried to stay under the radar and who was always forgetting his homework... BUT, I do try and learn from my woodworking mistakes, which I make a LOT of... thus the advice to use cherry from the same log when gluing up pieces to make a panel or table.

Nice table Ed*l... would you call that mission? ...arts and crafts style? btw, watch out for that boiled linseed oil, as it tends to REALLY get dark over time. So dark that in some cases, like when put on pine that gets exposed to lots of Sun, it turned that white pine almost brown over a period of 10 years.

 

[Ed*L]

Nice table Ed*l... would you call that mission? ...arts and crafts style? btw, watch out for that boiled linseed oil, as it tends to REALLY get dark over time. So dark that in some cases, like when put on pine that gets exposed to lots of Sun, it turned that white pine almost brown over a period of 10 years.

I got the plan from Woodsmith magazine, they called it plain ol' "craftsman style". http://www.woodsmith.com/plans/craftsman-tile-top-table/
The only woods I'll use the blo on are Cherry and Walnut, it really brings out the grain in them.
Glad you like the table, thanks!

Ed

 

[Al Smith]

About the best way to get a real great color match is to use lumber cut from the same tree or at least trees from the same location.I think red oak is the most dramatic from my point of view.It can change color and growth ring rate from one side of a county to the other due to growing conditions and mineral content.

Cherry has often been refered to as Americas mahogany.Nice wood,keep your tools sharp because it "burns" real easily.

Mulberry is a second cousin to osage orange.Milky glue like sap when you cut it green.Orangeish/yellow wood in the green state which turns brown and harder than a rock once it dries.

 

[Woodie]

Cherry has often been refered to as Americas mahogany.Nice wood,keep your tools sharp because it "burns" real easily.

Not too worry though...if you keep your tools nice and sharp, it burns real easily! :jester:

 

[aquan8tor]

Mulberry is a second cousin to osage orange.Milky glue like sap when you cut it green.Orangeish/yellow wood in the green state which turns brown and harder than a rock once it dries.

DAM&!!T! I thought it wasn't that hard. Cuts like butter with a nice sharp full chisel chain. There were HUGE growth rings on the one I cut, and with the easy smooth cut, I thought it was pretty soft; I guess its not a total loss. It only had about a 3 1/2" straight section, maybe 4' at best, but I could've slabbed it. I cut it into roughly 12" square blocks and sealed it with wax for turning blocks sometime in the future......

 

[aquan8tor]

PS; for those that might comment on my cut, it looks so ragged from trying to cut as low to the ground as possible so that my friend could get her mower over the stump. I had a full wrap handle on the saw.