Searching for a dark cherry stain

[Rich L.]

I have a turning project made of cherry and I would like to stain the wood a deep dark color similar to the finish on old cherry furniture pieces. Does anyone have a formula for mixting stains to darken standard stains?

 

[Ron Sardo]

The best way to darken cherry is to set it out in the sun for a few days.

 

[john lucas]

Rich I use anything darker than the present stain. For Cherry I mix a very small amount of ebony stain and a little mahagony stain into the cherry stain. I buy the minwax stains. Stir them up well before mixing.
somewhere I've read about a mix chemicals that will turn the cherry dark but I don't remember what it is.

 

[Mort]

Fine Woodworking magazine had an article a year or so back where a baking soda and water mix was applied to wood to 'age' it. I have used this on mahagony to good effect. Probably will work on cherry. It is cheap and worth a try on a test piece.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Rich I use anything darker than the present stain. For Cherry I mix a very small amount of ebony stain and a little mahagony stain into the cherry stain. I buy the minwax stains. Stir them up well before mixing.
somewhere I've read about a mix chemicals that will turn the cherry dark but I don't remember what it is.

Treatment with lye solution is the one most often employed. Brush on, rinse off, neutralize if you feel you should. Some have mentioned fuming, as with white oak, since cherry has a fairly good amount of tannins, but I've not done that, so no guarantee of results.

I darken with BLO and let it oxidize. May be deluding myself, but I think hot and thin tones it faster. Sunlight gives a bit more of the high-energy input, and can speed things up beyond just letting it sit.

I guess I'd be inclined to use dye versus stain if I were going to go for instant gratification and didn't want the risk of high pH solutions. No sense obscuring the grain of a lovely wood any more than you have to. I would, however, experiment with sanding sealer and dye to make sure it won't trash your bowl by making it black on either end and leave light in the bottom and sides.

 

[Joe Greiner]

Cherry darkens naturally with age, more so in direct sunlight. The lye is not a dye or stain, just accelerates natural darkening, and doesn't hide figure of grain. Some recommended concentrations start with about 1 tsp lye (e.g. Red Devil powder/crystals) in 3 cups water. Leave on the wood for a minute or two, then wash with white vinegar to neutralize, then water to clean up. The 1 tsp/3 cups concentration may be a little tame. Experiment with stronger concentrations on some scraps from the same part of the tree for valid comparison. If lye is hard to find, or even if it isn't, consider oven cleaner (e.g. Easy-Off). Pretty much the same thing, but unknown concentration, and also has some additives which may or may not affect results. Again, experiment with scraps.

Wet treatment will tend to raise grain. Expect to re-sand afterwards, but don't go too deep or you'll reach untreated wood.

JG

 

[Hstudio]

Simply use an aniline dye such as Lockwood's Antique Cherry or Early American Cherry.

 

[Tony Reynolds]

Not a dye but potassium dichromate will give cherry that 100 year old look. Just be sure to take appropriate precautions when using the stuff. It's a powerful oxidiser that reacts with the tannins. A coat of tung oil varnish over top of this is stunning.

 

[dkulze]

I've had consistantly good luck with using a weak lye solution. Pick up a container of Red Devil or any other lye at your local hardware store or grocery (in the plumbing/clog removal section). Mix about a teaspoon into a pint of water. Paint consistantly and let dry. Sand and finish.

Three things. First, it is a water solution so it will raise the grain. You have to sand off afterwords. Second, it will also color sapwood so test it on another piece before using since you can get greens and browns depending on the mineral content of the sapwood. Third, if you've used any wax, oil, finish, or glue on the piece, this will affect absorbtion and you will get color variances. Ya have to use the lye solution before anything else to get consistancy.

Other friends swear by Easy-Off spray oven cleaner. Clings and can be wiped off. Personally, I'd rather avoid the various binding and detergent agents and go with my straight lye/water solution. Cheaper too.

Dietrich

 

[Rich L.]

Dark cherry stain solutions

Thanks for all the replys. I am headinng to the local hardware for lye, potassium dicromate, and aniline dye. The plan is to fool around with lots of test scraps to attain the color I'm looking for. Thanks for the help.

 

[dkulze]

Let us know how it works out. If able, post comparison pictures of the results you get.

Dietrich

 

[MichaelMouse]

Thanks for all the replys. I am headinng to the local hardware for lye, potassium dicromate, and aniline dye. The plan is to fool around with lots of test scraps to attain the color I'm looking for. Thanks for the help.

Doubt you'll find potassium dichromate easily available, and for a number of good, valid reasons. Makes lye, and you don't want drain cleaner with foaming aluminum chips, look like a sissy. http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~russ/MSDS/potassium_dichromate.htm

Maybe you could get Saddam to apply it for you.

 

[Tony Reynolds]

Yep, it must be treated with respect. Ironically you could find it readily available on ebay in the past. I don't know if that's still the case. Many furniture builders and finishers used it a lot on cherry. David Marks used it on Woodworks all the time.