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Thread: What is Gummy Cherry

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    N.E, Ohio
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    3,026

    What is Gummy Cherry

    Received an email from my local Woodcraft store offering gummy cherry. I have never heard of it so what makes it different from cherry?
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Marietta, GA
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    275
    Its not in the Wood Database. I expect its a marketing ploy for some low grade cherry.

  3. #3
    My dad gave me my great grandfathers tall case clock that was made in 1814, he said if I restored it I could have it. It was made in Pennsylvania out of cherry and it was the most miserable thing I ever sanded. Three or four passes and the paper was gummed up. I thought at the time it was just because it was old.

    It came out beautiful but there is no way this is low grade cherry. Not sure what you might have but a piece of sandpaper will tell you pretty quickly. This was before I knew what scrappers were. clock.jpg

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Upstate NY
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    3,789
    Google is your friend
    http://walzcraft.com/cherry-gummy-35925/

    I think it gives character; I suppose others would consider it a defect.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Marietta, GA
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    Obviously a defect. Sometimes defects add character, but that doesn't change what they are.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
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    Cincinnati, OH
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    924
    I had glued up some 7/4 cherry to carve for a chair seat. All the surfaces looked great. Shortly after grinding away I encountered a gum pocket. My hear sank but it was relatively small and disappeared with additional shaping. Sometimes, they add character and sometimes you may have to adjust your expectations when discovered during a build.
    Rustic? Well, no. That was not my intention!

  7. #7
    It's really pretty if you like wood with a lot of character... Don't buy it if you only like clear, brown, straight grained cherry.

  8. #8
    Ron,
    You may have been fighting the original varnish finish... Back in Ye Olde Days before Lacquer - furniture was finished with either drying oil varnishes or spirit varnishes over top of a "ground" coat.... Both often had large quantities of various natural gums and tree resins to make them harden.... They also often included shellacs and various waxes... They were often quite soft... And "gummy" would be a good description...

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Kurzius View Post
    My dad gave me my great grandfathers tall case clock that was made in 1814, he said if I restored it I could have it. It was made in Pennsylvania out of cherry and it was the most miserable thing I ever sanded. Three or four passes and the paper was gummed up. I thought at the time it was just because it was old.

    It came out beautiful but there is no way this is low grade cherry. Not sure what you might have but a piece of sandpaper will tell you pretty quickly. This was before I knew what scrappers were. clock.jpg

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Marietta, GA
    Posts
    275
    That's what I was thinking. Some kind of finish, not the wood itself.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Canada
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    177
    Low grade Cherry with lots of pitch pockets, most of us use it for firewood.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
    Posts
    391
    Some of us go looking for it on purpose

    Clock three quarter profile.jpg

    Bottom moulding.jpg

    Door handle.jpg

    Top moulding.jpg

    Cheers, Don
    Don Kondra – Furniture Designer/Maker
    Product Photographer

  12. #12
    Not unlike the pitch pockets you find in southern yellow pine. I've never had the cherry pitch bleed out, however.

  13. #13
    It's regarded as a defect, but there's not anything inherent about that's defective except that it doesn't match cherry without gum pockets.

    If you find enough of it to make the whole piece of out if it's very neat. IMO of course.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Cincinnati, OH
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    924
    It is appealing in its own way like all hardwoods. I like it too.
    Rustic? Well, no. That was not my intention!

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    177
    Hey Don I hope hope you gave your customer a good break on the price of that piece with all that defective cherry. Your site says you use nothing but the finest hardwoods. Just joking nice work. I just have a preference for clear or highly figured cherry and avoid anything with pitch pockets.

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