Help with discolored cherry

[Travis Lanman]

Well I don't know how I missed it but while making this portrait on my scrollsaw I grabbed a piece of cherry ply that had been somewhat exposed to the sun. You can see in the bottom left the dark part. Is there any easy was to fix this so it all matches? I might just have to make a new one any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Travis

[Jim Becker]

It will "Fix" itself. Cherry darkens from UV exposure as well as oxidation. Put the whole thing in the sun for a couple of days and you'll be hard-pressed to see the "line".

[Paul Smith]

Can you just set the whole thing out in the sun for a while? Let it all darken a little bit.

[Kurt Aebi]

Have you tried sanding with a very fine grit, or using a scotch brite pad? I know the veneer is rather thin, but I know I can sand ipt out on solid cherry with 220 - 300 grit, maybe there is enough material to take a light sanding.

Anyone else have a suggestion that doesn't involve sanding?

Does that happen to be Ruth & Gehrig? Looks good.

[Travis Lanman]

Thanks. You guys sure can solve problems quick. :) I'll try sanding and if that doesn't work I'll let it sit in the sun for a while. Kurt, you guessed right. Thanks for the compliment it might help if I could take better pics though.
Travis

[Chris Padilla]

Who is in the portrait, Travis? Very nice work!

[Lynn Sonier]

Looks like Babe Ruth on the right and Ed McMahon on the left. What team did Ed play for?????

[Joseph N. Myers]

Travis,

I have lots of cherry and hard maple and many times, the piles get mixed up and it is hard to tell which is which based on the grain, figure, etc.

What I do it take the boards in question, tape off a section and place them in the sun for a couple of hours, peel off the tape and compare tape vs. non-tape areas. The non-tape area on the cherry will be darker, the same on the maple.

Sanding (planing) will bring back the original color but why bother. A couple of additional hours in the sun will make the color the same (darker).

Regards, Joe

[Todd Burch]

Looks like all the guys got you fixed up with the sun-tan suggestions - that will surely fix the problem.

Here's a photo I took while working on the cherry study. I had all these boards layed out, and was amazed at the color differences. Each of the boards is cherry! The board 3rd from the left has a partial suntan.

Todd