Giving Cherry a "tan"???

[John Miliunas]

I'm working on a little Cherry project and am looking to get the full color effect out of the Cherry. I know about the lye/water treatment, but thought I'd try "tanning" it w/the power of the sun, which I also know works. Here's the big question: WHEN should I do that? I've got the boards milled, though I will still need to get the machine marks out of it either, with a smoothing plane or ROS. (Recommendations on that?). The boards also need to get glued up. So, when should I put them out in the sun? Before smoothing and glue-up? After they're glued-up and before assembly? After assembly but, before finish? I will most probably be using either, BLO or Velvit Oil (probably the latter) and clear coating with brush-on lacquer. Maybe I should complete the whole thing, clear and all and then set the whole thing outside?:confused: Any recommendations and/or past practice would be greatly appreciated!:) :cool:

[Cecil Arnold]

John, while not even close to an expert on cherry, my vote would be after glue-up and just before finishing. I've had a piece in the garage, out of direct sunlight, that got a very nice "shadow" after having another piece of wood laying on it for a short time. I would also think that if you set it out in the sunlight you might want to rotate it for even exposure. Days are getting short, are you going to have any sun up there in the frozen tundra of cheeseland?

[Michael Stafford]

David Marks allow his cherry pieces to sit in the sun for a couple of days and carefully rotates them to make sure they are evenly tanned. Sort of like the way you properly roast a beach bunny, no lotion on the cherry though.... :D

[Martin Shupe]

John,

Finish the project, that is, put it all together, then you can decide on your next step. Do all the final sanding, i.e., be ready for finish.

Now you have a choice, you can put it outside, before the finish, or partway through it.

Personally, I use at least one coat, sometimes 2 of BLO prior to a couple topcoats of Waterlox.

So...I put the BLO on, then set it in the sun for an hour or two, then rub off the excess BLO. Give it a day or two to dry, then you can put it in the sun again, and add another coat of BLO if you like. I try to leave it in the sun for most of two days.

Two full days in the Texas sun are all you need...I don't know about the Wisconsin sun.

The warmth of the sun helps the BLO soak in, and also brings out the dark cherry color everyone loves.

However....be sure to check it once an hour, to wipe off any "excess" BLO that seeps out of the pores. If you don't...you will get BLO "beads" on top of the wood, which you will have to sand off. DAMHIKT!!!

Good luck.

[Steve Clardy]

Be sure and remove bikini before sun tanning. No tan lines.

[Jules Dominguez]

I put a piece out in the hot Georgia sun a day after applying Watco Danish Oil finish. The piece was dry before exposing it to the sun, but it bled oil which then dried in the sun and I ended up having to sand the dried oil off of the surface. I'll never do that again, and would advise sunning after all cutting, scraping or sanding, but before applying oil.

[John Miliunas]

Thanks for the advice, guys! The sun is nowhere near as intense here as it is down Texas or Georgia ways, but should still provide for some effect. It sounds like putting the oil on and then letting it "bake" might be the best way, but would require a fair amount of "baby sitting", so I may just go ahead and glue the pieces up and clean them and then put them out there before the oil goes on. I have a couple other mini-projects to work on in the meantime and get easily engrossed in what I'm doing. I'm afraid if I put the oil on before the sun session, I may end up having to sand off more than I care to!:rolleyes: So, I think that's the plan, though I may throw some oil on a test piece and put it out there, just to see how it works. Never know...Maybe the more moderate sunlight would work to help cure it and do so without stuff bleeding out! In fact, I think I just talked myself into that one. I'll let you know how that works out!:) :cool:

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I like to oil first, then sun. I don't worry about bleeding, because if it does bleed, that forces me to pay closer attention when I put the steel wool on it afterward...and all that does is make it silkier. :)

[Donnie Raines]

I have always been in the minority here. I really dislike placeing lumber directly in the sun( I no...its done all the time when the lumber is green). The reason why I don't do this is becuase the heat can actually dry the surface of the wood to quickly, causing small surface cracks(and not normally right away). I have had this happen before. Granted many do it with great success, I prefer to let it prcoess slowly(with the help of oil and indirect sunlight). I have used potassium dicromite with success as well...but then you need to deal with fumes and "stuff".

[Jeff Sudmeier]

John, as you know, I love cherry as well! So let me know how this works :)

Hey! Maybe you could call me and I could come over and help you baby sit it! :) :)

Now doesn't that sound like primo fun!! (Depends if there are cold ones involved :))

[Don Baer]

Hey! Maybe you could call me and I could come over and help you baby sit it! :) :)

Now doesn't that sound like primo fun!! (Depends if there are cold ones involved :))

Sounds like a 2 six pack job to me. I always judge a job by how much beer it's gonna take to complete it.

:D

[Bill Arnold]

Thought I'd chime in on this as it's one of my favorite subjects. When an assembly is complete, I set it in my driveway and start the oil rub while it's sitting in the sun. The sun warms the oil, making it seep into the wood better and keeps it fluid so it can be wiped easier. I'll usually do this a couple of days in a row. The oil mix is typically BLO/Naphtha in a 1/1 ratio.