Best Way To Finish Cherry Furniture

To best tell how i finish cherry at the school i ve created the storyboard below to show the finishing steps at a glance.

Best way to finish cherry furniture.

The biggest key to remember when sanding cherry is that it scratches easily so you really must sand with the grain. More is made about potential blotching of cherry than is warranted. Cherry is a peculiar wood. Unlike the distinct pale white of maple or the rich dark of walnut cherry exists in a constant state of flux.

With both situations the easiest way to see how a finish will look on the wood is to wet the wood. The spray with the same finish as the rest of the woodwork. To be most effective the coating needs to have some thickness forming a layer over the surface that acts like a lens. This makes cherry s super absorbent spots and curly figure stand out.

The reason people love it is for that deep rich color. Oil finishes penetrate the surface bringing out the maximum depth and beauty as the cherry oxidizes over time revealing a desirable rich deeper colored patina. I d oil and allow the oil to completely dry month or more or a few days and then coat with sealcoat a shellac product. Polyurethane disguises mottling and curly figure the best but it gives cherry less depth than shellac or lacquer.

In my opinion the best way to achieve this amazing color is by just using a little patience and let nature do her thing and naturally darken the wood over time. We took to the shop to find the most succulent cherry finish that will make your project stand out from the crowd. The sealcoat will allow the poly to stick. Before using any finishing products be sure to slip on protective gloves.

Lacquer and shellac are two evaporative film forming finishes that work well in this regard. They have excellent clarity that brings out the depth and figure in the wood very nicely. My process always begins by sanding the wood to 220 grit and then wiping it clean. Ideally it s best to simply enhance the natural beauty of cherry by applying an oil based varnish of some type.

One of the best attributes of this hardwood species is that it sands to a very smooth finish a prerequisite for building fine furniture. So you have to figure out for yourself how the cherry you are using will finish. Conclusion have patience so in conclusion cherry wood is an awesome choice for building furniture and is highly desirable. This is much easier to do with surfaced cherry than with rough lumber.

Wood suppliers grade wood for the number and size of its knots.