The color of cherry...what influences the shade after exposure to light.

[Jon Grider]

I'm comparing the color of some cabinets I made for my brother from native Michigan cherry, good heartwood, boards mostly 6-10 inches wide with those I built from some nice Pennsylvania cherry for myself out of wood of about the same size boards and the same finishing schedule. Both have roughly the same amount of light exposure and were finished within a few weeks of each other. The Penn cherry is considerably darker than the Michigan cherry after about 8 months.

Any educated thoughts on why the color difference? Minerals in soil? Climate? I've been told that Penn cherry is second to none.
I also know cherry and many other woods can differ from tree to tree, but does anyone know what makes Penn cherry richer than other locales?

[scott spencer]

If I understand correctly, tannin oils are what turn cherry dark when exposed to sunlight. It's logical that there would be different tannin levels in different cherry varieties.

[Jim Becker]

You'll get color differences between wood from two trees that lived next to each other in the same woods! Additionally, there are a number of different (really) cherry species that get cut and put in the same bins under the name of "cherry". For this reason, it's good to carefully color and grain match your lumber from the start...at the seller if at all possible before you bring it home to the shop and if not, buy extra so you can do it in the shop after the fact.

[David Keller NC]

It isn't tannin in cherry that causes the darkening per se, but Jim is 100% correct here - it is not possible to reliably predict the darkening of cherry in mill-run wood. The good news is that over many years the darkening tends to make mis-matched boards in a project (i.e., not from the same tree) get closer in color, though the difference will never completely go away.

This effect is why it may not be the best idea to use-glue-ups in a prominent surface on a piece of furniture - the fall-board in a cherry desk, for example.

[ian maybury]

I can't speak for cherry, but i've seen with oak that even quite moderate variations in light exposure due to where it's placed in a room can make a big difference...

[Jim Matthews]

Just a SWAG - I think you're on the right track about what minerals reside in the soil as the source in variation.
Viticulture manipulates the same factors to influence the taste of wine.

I suppose this is why so many of the Big Dogs prescribe using the same tree to source all boards for a project...

[John TenEyck]

As Jim said, there are several different cherry trees. PA cherry is indeed beautiful. It's my favorite wood that I love to hate. Chips, burns, blotches, and is stunning when (if?) you finally get it right. I've also cut some local NY cherry that I got for free. The tree itself looked different and the wood, while looking a lot like cherry, was no where near as red and not nearly as light sensitive as the PA cherry.

[Jim Becker]

John, "PA Cherry" isn't a species and there a a number of cherry species that grow in PA. I have three different ones on my 4 acres, as a matter of fact! That's why selecting lumber is such a critical operation. Something I've often poster here in the forums is the statement, "The first step in the finishing process is choosing your lumber for compatible grain/figure and color."...or some variation, thereof. Definitely applies to cherry!