Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 16 to 22 of 22

Thread: Rough Cut Cherry Board Ends Darker and Less Dense

  1. #16
    Looks like your slice is just inside the slab from a twisty log.

    Chairs are way up there in the list of projects that require premium wood. Don't screw it up before you start.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    624
    Other than those two slabs of walnut, don't use any of that stack of wood for furniture. It might be okay for some turned pieces or small projects. Cherry is not that expensive these days.

    Dan

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Cincinnati, OH
    Posts
    924
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Fiore View Post
    I plan on using the Quarter Sawn sections for the front legs. I have separate "prime" 8/4 heartwood which I bought for the rear legs, and it's in great shape. The crest rail for the chair is about 14" long. Is pith a complete no go for anything at all, even something that short?
    If the legs have flat surfaces, the quarter sawn grain will appear on opposite faces with flat sawn grain on the two adjoining faces. Folks often use rift sawn wood to reduce this contrast.

    The pith contains wood that oriented in different directions all around the center which causes a lot of internal stress. It is best avoid unless you can somehow eliminate the effects of the stress in the design. I would not want to use it for a crest rail which is connected at the ends to the rear legs, often with mortise and tenon or similar joints. Crest rails are frequently thinner stock which would also make me avoid stock with larger internal stresses. Good luck!
    Rustic? Well, no. That was not my intention!

  4. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by glenn bradley View Post
    If you really mean pith, this is a no-go. If you mean sapwood, many avoid it but, I have used it for decorative purposes.

    Attachment 424598Attachment 424599
    It is Pith in the first picture for sure. I am also a bug fan of using cherry sap wood in the right ways and places.

    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm McLeod View Post
    I don't know the chemistry, but I have also heard oxygen causes it. What I do know is I have cut and used some of the 'old' cherry I have. The color goes completely through the board(s). It is uniformly dark, relative to newly milled 'light' cherry, and I'm semi-sure that the interior of the board has not been lounging at the pool when I wasn't looking
    .... It started out life in the light range.

    Other than a couple of moves and the 2-3 minute trip to<>from the truck, the exterior of these boards has never seen the light of day either..?
    I don't know how it works, but light will cause faster darkening. I used to often have tanned cherry pieces in full sun and they get darker fast just in a afternoon.


    Quote Originally Posted by Bradley Gray View Post
    Looks like your slice is just inside the slab from a twisty log.

    Chairs are way up there in the list of projects that require premium wood. Don't screw it up before you start.
    I think people often forget this. Chair take the most abuse of just about anything we make. 100lbs of pounds in them regularly, moved all the time, lot of tork and twisting.

    Start with stable wood and them make great joints.

  5. #20
    I don't mean to rain on your parade, but the color variance is IMHO the least of the issues with that wood.

    I'll defer you that sections are in good shape, but most dining chairs will require straight grain on the back posts or rear legs. You may be challenged to find enough straight grain for a full set.

    Don't settle for grain run out - even if it means wasting more wood than you want.

    I wouldn't worry too much about color differences. Chairs have so many facets, even SAME color wood will appear darker or lighter depending on how the light presents. In addition, cherry from different trees ages at different rates. As long as you don't juxtapose those boards on the seat, you may not notice a difference in the final product...
    Last edited by Prashun Patel; 01-27-2020 at 12:56 PM.

  6. #21
    It's hard to refute others experiences but mine is that when I plane cherry boards I uncover lighter wood. If the board was already planned and I put it through again it comes out of the planner lighter.

    The old boards I used for drawer fronts were dark rough cut, however, and only lightened a little when planned. I bevel cut the edges for a raised panel look and that revealed wood a little lighter but still pretty dark. I definitely believe some cherry is darker than other cherry.

    The top of my daughters breakfast table, cherry, has not darkened. I made it for her in about 2006. So it is plenty old enough to have darkened. Other wood purchased at the same time from the same supplier has darkened. Her bedroom set, also cherry, for instance has darkened. The chairs have not darkened as much but has darkened more than the table top.

    All these experiences tell me that there is a fairly wide range of what happens with the color of cherry. But most of the boards I have made into something lightened when planned and darkened when the project was exposed to sunlight.

    A simple experiment will reveal the effect. All you need to do is plane a board, put a piece of tape on it, and leave it in the sunlight for a few days. When you pull off the tape, the area under it will be lighter.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    2,758
    Use that wood to make a practice chair. Plan to burn it afterward so you don't spend too much time on it but work out all the details and setups. You will find some improvements you can make on the real chairs and you will learn plenty about the wood you have. Making your setups twice may seem like wasted effort but it will go much faster the second time.

    Also you can work out your finishing scheme.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •