Best Way To Finish Cherry Furniture

Wipe on drying oil finish.

Best way to finish cherry furniture.

Cherry is a peculiar wood. One of the best attributes of this hardwood species is that it sands to a very smooth finish a prerequisite for building fine furniture. My process always begins by sanding the wood to 220 grit and then wiping it clean. They have excellent clarity that brings out the depth and figure in the wood very nicely.

Next apply boiled linseed oil to pop the color and grain. Tung oil and boiled linseed oil soak into the wood lodging in even the tiniest pores. 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. This is much easier to do with surfaced cherry than with rough lumber.

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. This makes cherry s super absorbent spots and curly figure stand out. The reason people love it is for that deep rich color. More is made about potential blotching of cherry than is warranted.

To best tell how i finish cherry at the school i ve created the storyboard below to show the finishing steps at a glance. With both situations the easiest way to see how a finish will look on the wood is to wet the wood. Polyurethane disguises mottling and curly figure the best but it gives cherry less depth than shellac or lacquer. The biggest key to remember when sanding cherry is that it scratches easily so you really must sand with the grain.

Lacquer and shellac are two evaporative film forming finishes that work well in this regard. We took to the shop to find the most succulent cherry finish that will make your project stand out from the crowd. To be most effective the coating needs to have some thickness forming a layer over the surface that acts like a lens. The spray with the same finish as the rest of the woodwork.

Ideally it s best to simply enhance the natural beauty of cherry by applying an oil based varnish of some type. So you have to figure out for yourself how the cherry you are using will finish. Before using any finishing products be sure to slip on protective gloves. The sealcoat will allow the poly to stick.

Conclusion have patience so in conclusion cherry wood is an awesome choice for building furniture and is highly desirable.