Color Matching

[Tim Thiebaut]

I am having a problem matching some wood up for a piece I am working on, the HF is Cherry from a blank, the only Cherry I had for a finial for this piece was kiln dried from the store, even though they are both sanded the exact same way to 600, and have the exact same amount of coats of WOP on them, the kiln dried finial is much lighter in color then the body which is from a blank. Does something happen to the wood when it is kiln dried that is causeing this do you think?

I have enough of the kiln dried wood left to make several more finials if there is something you think I could do to fix this so any thoughts, ideas, input is welcome. Thanks, Tim

[Jim Burr]

Anyone knows more about this than I do Tim, but I'll have a lash. Cherry darkens with age, so you may consider the difference in the age of the blanks as a potential issue. Some dye may be an option too!

[John Keeton]

Tim, is the cherry from a piece I sent you? If so, I can send you some from the same batch. Much can effect the color - the soil, the weather, kiln drying, age, etc. I have found a big difference in walnut that was harvested 100 miles apart within KY, and have noticed the same difference in cherry.

Let me know if you need another piece!!

I guess I should add - at this point, your options are limited. You could tint some WOP in an attempt to match the wood, but that is going to be tricky, and as the cherry ages, it may, again, not match.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Chances are it is only the difference between facegrain and endgrain and the way each reflects light differently.

[Tim Thiebaut]

Thanks for the input everyone. John yes this is the piece you sent me, it has been done for a while now but I have been having this issue with the finial not matching. The upper finial is only about 3 inches including the tenon for mounting, the inside finial is about "1 1/2, thank you John I would appreciated that a great deal, thank you! Tim

[John Keeton]

Tim, to make sure I send you the right cherry, was the piece already in a round?

[Tim Thiebaut]

Yes it was John, thank you again! Tim

[Cathy Schaewe]

Maybe if you put in in sunlight for a day to darken it a bit? Just a thought ...

[Tim Thiebaut]

It certainly wouldnt hurt to try Cathy, I will put it out there tomorrow and see what happens, thank you for the idea.