Need advice on working with cherry

[JR]

Mom's christmas gift is going to be the mantle clock from the latest Wood magazine. I had planned to use walnut, but the $2.50/bf cherry at Rockler called out to me.

This will be the first time I've used cherry. I've read that it is prone to burning and that a good way to color it is letting it stand in the sun.

Does anyone have specific suggestions for working cherry? How do you avoid/mitigate the burning issue? How do you like to finish it? If you let it stand in the sun, do you do that before or after assembly?

Any and all advice gratefully accepted.

JR

[cabinetman]

I don't stain cherry. This cherry cabinet was made to house and display hand carved ivory. It was done with a water white clear lacquer. I've also used varnish. Sorry about the quality of the pictures but they are older Polaroids.



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[drumpriest]

A good sharp blade helps with the burning, feed rate being the big thing. Keep the feed rate a nice constant rate. Don't try and feed TOO fast, but don't pause either, it'll burn where you pause.

Also consider cutting over by 1/32 and using the jointer to trim off the last little bit.

I've used Arm-R-Seal with cherry and it turned out great. Nothing replaces time with getting cherry to darken, in a year it'll darken up quite a bit, in 5 years it'll mostly stablize in color.

[JR]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I don't generally like to use stain, but this project isn't for me, so I'm undecided. I've been using a satin wipe-on poly from the local u-finish-it store that I'm happy with. That'll likely be the topcoat.

I'll probably start cutting it up today, so we'll see what comes of it.

JR

[Jeffrey Schronce]

A small trick for router burn in cherry is to put a piece of tape on the edge that your bearing is riding on. Make your first pass, remove the tape then make another pass.
I don't stain cherry or other woods either anymore. One thing I may do with Cherry is use garnet shellac as a sanding sealer. It helps impart the reddish color you are looking for. I use a less than 1lb cut of garnet shellac. Does a nice job sealing and imparting a little color. I also let the piece sit out in the sun for a few days. This has always gotten a nice color for inital work. Yes, it will darken over time and I make sure people know that.
$2.50 a bf is such a nice price!
Seal-A-Cell also has a slightly reddish tint to the solvent resulting in a little coloring of the wood and can be used as a sealer. I second the vote for Arm-R-Seal for the finish. I just bought 2 gallons of the satin Arm-R-Seal and I love the stuff!

[linear]

Get your fences aligned, and use a reasonable feed rate, and you'll be a happy camper. I love working cherry. I hate paying for it.

I didn't put my box out in the sun at all, but it has darkened substantially over its first six months of existence. I used Tru-oil gun stock finish.

[JimD]

Blade also has to be clean. Good idea to clean it at the start of the job with cherry. Checking the fence alignment is another good idea.

[JR]

It's coming along, thanks to your tips, guys. Jeffery, the one about tape on the edge was new to me, and it's working out very well. There's still some burning to deal with, but a lot less than otherwise.

JR