GF Enduro over Cherry

[Todd Hoppe]

I am working on a white painted entertainment cabinet that will have a cherry finished top, with a natural finish.

http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=97486

This is the first time I have worked with Cherry. I have purchased General Finishes Enduro Clear for the top and drawers, and Enduro white acrylic for the painted portion.

Do you have any advice for finishing the cherry top? Will the clear make the grain and color of the cherry "pop" and if not, can I put a coat of BLO or other oil underneath?

The cherry is not strongly figured.

Thanks!

[Thomas Pender]

Once I glue up a cherry panel or finish a leg or a board, etc., I let it sit in the sun for as long as I can (it can be inside or outside, but watch the rain.) (On a desk top for my wife it has been two months.) (I also use a cabinet scraper to burnish it and avoid sandpaper if I can - if I use sandpaper, I vacuum it like crazy - use a dust cloth and will even wipe it with mineral spirits.) (I am trying to learn to use a scraper plane for larger panels.)

After sitting in the sun, the Cherry develops a wonderful warm/rich patina - almost a red color - especially if it is curly cherry. Then I use some kind of clear oil on it - it can be Watco Clear Danish (my favorite, but Minwax also works well), generic BLO, brand is almost irrelevant. At that point the grain just does not pop, it almost explodes. After wiping it off and letting it dry for at least 48 hours in a good environement (not too cold, hot, or humid) you can final finish it with a good clear finish - Poly, Acrylic, Target URL, whatever. as much as I like walnut and white oak, I will admit that properly finish cherry is very fine.:D

[Craig Coney]

Do you have any advice for finishing the cherry top? Will the clear make the grain and color of the cherry "pop" and if not, can I put a coat of BLO or other oil underneath?

The cherry is not strongly figured.

Thanks!

Todd,
As with any WB finish, you do not want to put a non curing finish beneath a WB finish. The WB finish will not adhere to the oil saturated wood without curing fully and using a barrier such as dewaxed shellac.

If you want the grain to pop, then you could use a dye and sand the cherry down, colored dewaxed shellac ( amber or garnet ), sealing the cherry with a wash coat of dewaxed shellac, then using a WB stain, or like Thomas leave the cherry in the sunlight to darken it., then do the top coat.

I would recommend the Enduro sanding sealer under the clear coat and the Enduro primer under the paint.

[William M Johnson]

I have been out of woodworking for quite a while so take this for what it is worth. In 1979 I build a Queen Anne Tilt top table, with full bird cage, raised lip etc. I finished it with Formby's Tung Oil. The finish 30 years later is still perfect. Ditto on a mahogony dining room table top, that is probably 25 years old

This finish is impossible to screw up it just take a little time. On a small project the labor is minimal. It does not waterspot and is easy to fix.

Bill

[Jim Becker]

Bill, just so you know, "Formby's Tung Oil" isn't "Tung Oil"...that's just a name. It's a wiping varnish that had some tung oil in the original ingredients. From their web site: "A high quality varnish made from a balanced blend of tung oil and other fine penetrating oils." When you make varnish, the oil and other ingredients cease to be what they originally were.

Unless the label says "100%" or "Pure" Tung Oil, it isn't.

That all said, I'm glad you had great results with the product!

[Jamie Buxton]

I find that even now, straight waterborne finishes over cherry are a little lifeless. I wipe on a (thin) coat of solvent-based varnish, and give the cherry as much time in the sun as I can manage. The solvent-based varnish gives depth and color to the cherry, and the sun helps even more. There's no need for stain or dye. The wipe-on can be any varnish thinned for wiping, or pre-thinned varnish like Minwax Wipe-on Poly. After the wipe-on has cured -- a couple of days -- waterborne finishes adhere to it perfectly well.

[Jim Becker]

Jamie, the only water borne I've used that is warm enough by itself on cherry is Target Hybrivar, but even then I prefer to oil and shellac first. I only put it on "naked" in testing, but it was noticeably better than other straight water borne products I had lying about.

[Todd Hoppe]

Thanks for all the responses. As I'm on a short time table, I have simply shot straight clear enduo on it. It looks fine for the intended purpose.

On my next cherry project, I think that I'll use a curing solvent based finish underneath. (I have had good success doing this with figured maple in the past, which fits with Jim Becker's comments).

[Prashun Patel]

If you haven't done it yet, a short cut which will give you some grain pop is to put on a coat or two of dewaxed shellac. You can shellac and put on yr top coat all in the same day.

Zinsser Sealcoat will impart a tad bit of amber which IMHO will compliment yr top. Not as poppy as an oil under the shellac, but still quite wonderful.