Hello,
I am in the process of refinishing an old dresser SWMBO really likes
for the kitchen. We stuck it in there to temporarily hold the
microwave when we first bought the house... and it has temporarily
been there for 14 years now.
In any event, she really likes the thing and all the drawers. (I
think it's a little funky but I ain't got no vote on the matter.)
Well, time has come to refinish the darn thing. It is over 40 years
old and was stained a maple hue.
I have always thought the thing to be pine or something like that.
But when I stripped the shellac and did a little sanding, I
find...cherry!
Well, the cabinets are oak and the kitchen table is oak-stained pine.
So SWMBO figures we need to stain the dresser oak.
Now, I am still sort of new to this hobby but it seems to me that it
would be sacrilegious to stain something made out of cherry anything
but, well, cherry. Or just a natural stain. I have a bunch of Minwax
Antique Oil that I think would look good but she doesn't like it. She
says it makes the piece look too light and doesn't go with the rest of
the kitchen.
She kinda drives me nuts with this matching wood junk but then again,
if she had her way, every piece of wood in the house would be painted
if she were to totally have it her way.
So I am stepping gingerly here...I want it to look like wood but not
oak-stained cherry! I think that would look terrible. If I used
cherry Watco, would that darken it enough but not make it too, well,
red?
Am I asking stupid questions?
Any advice is welcome!
>I have always thought the thing to be pine or something like that.
>But when I stripped the shellac and did a little sanding, I
>find...cherry!
>Any advice is welcome!
>
Others have given a lot of advice though I believe that the best advice is to
test the finish on inconspicuous spots. Unfortunately there may not be any
inconspicuous spots of cherry. Your next best solution might be to set up a
cherry test piece (a "scrap" piece of cherry) and apply various finishes to the
test piece to find the right color. Realize that it may be hard to find a piece
of cherry that exactly matches the existing piece.
This is largely because cherry is so reactive to light: I always expose cherry
to direct sunlight preferably for a couple of days before finishing. To see
what I mean take a piece of freshly planed cherry, cover half of it with
something opaque (another board) and leave it in the sun for a couple of hours.
The exposed half will already be darker. Your piece of furniture has had years
to acquire this "patina".
BTW IMHO you will most likely not be able to match the existing cabinets and
you should instead aim for complementing them (as opposed to clashing with
them)
quit worrying about the religious aspects and stain it a color you both
agree on.
Ray Kinzler wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am in the process of refinishing an old dresser SWMBO really likes
> for the kitchen. We stuck it in there to temporarily hold the
> microwave when we first bought the house... and it has temporarily
> been there for 14 years now.
>
> In any event, she really likes the thing and all the drawers. (I
> think it's a little funky but I ain't got no vote on the matter.)
>
> Well, time has come to refinish the darn thing. It is over 40 years
> old and was stained a maple hue.
>
> I have always thought the thing to be pine or something like that.
> But when I stripped the shellac and did a little sanding, I
> find...cherry!
>
> Well, the cabinets are oak and the kitchen table is oak-stained pine.
> So SWMBO figures we need to stain the dresser oak.
>
> Now, I am still sort of new to this hobby but it seems to me that it
> would be sacrilegious to stain something made out of cherry anything
> but, well, cherry. Or just a natural stain. I have a bunch of Minwax
> Antique Oil that I think would look good but she doesn't like it. She
> says it makes the piece look too light and doesn't go with the rest of
> the kitchen.
>
> She kinda drives me nuts with this matching wood junk but then again,
> if she had her way, every piece of wood in the house would be painted
> if she were to totally have it her way.
>
> So I am stepping gingerly here...I want it to look like wood but not
> oak-stained cherry! I think that would look terrible. If I used
> cherry Watco, would that darken it enough but not make it too, well,
> red?
>
> Am I asking stupid questions?
>
> Any advice is welcome!
Ray Kinzler wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I am in the process of refinishing an old dresser SWMBO really likes
> for the kitchen. We stuck it in there to temporarily hold the
> microwave when we first bought the house... and it has temporarily
> been there for 14 years now.
>
> In any event, she really likes the thing and all the drawers. (I
> think it's a little funky but I ain't got no vote on the matter.)
>
> Well, time has come to refinish the darn thing. It is over 40 years
> old and was stained a maple hue.
>
> I have always thought the thing to be pine or something like that.
> But when I stripped the shellac and did a little sanding, I
> find...cherry!
>
> Well, the cabinets are oak and the kitchen table is oak-stained pine.
> So SWMBO figures we need to stain the dresser oak.
>
> Now, I am still sort of new to this hobby but it seems to me that it
> would be sacrilegious to stain something made out of cherry anything
> but, well, cherry. Or just a natural stain. I have a bunch of Minwax
> Antique Oil that I think would look good but she doesn't like it. She
> says it makes the piece look too light and doesn't go with the rest of
> the kitchen.
>
> She kinda drives me nuts with this matching wood junk but then again,
> if she had her way, every piece of wood in the house would be painted
> if she were to totally have it her way.
>
> So I am stepping gingerly here...I want it to look like wood but not
> oak-stained cherry! I think that would look terrible. If I used
> cherry Watco, would that darken it enough but not make it too, well,
> red?
>
> Am I asking stupid questions?
>
> Any advice is welcome!
Stain everything else cherry.
You did say that you are new to this hobby, so here are some
generalities.
No two pieces of wood will take the same color when stained, even of the
same species.
The color names on the can are just that - color names.
No stain will look similar on different species of wood.
End grain will look different than face grain.
Rift sawn will look quite different than quarter sawn.
Each stain color will look different again when covered with sealer -
varnish, poly, oil
Try to find an inconspicuous place on the dresser on which to
experiment. Cabinet back, drawer side, end panel. Be aware that many
of the non showing parts will be made from a different wood specie(s)?
Lacquer based stains can be "painted" onto the wood to hide sap lines,
etc. Most commercial stuff is done this way so the chairs or whatever
all match. You can still see the grain through the stain. It ranks
closer to art than to traditional woodwork
Try several different stains on your piece. You can wet the stained
wood with mineral spirits to get a good impression of what it will look
like with finish over it. Let SWMBO choose what she likes or keep
experimenting till she does. Make her sign a contract in triplicate
that she won't change her mind or complain after you finish the project
<ya, right>
--
Keep the whole world singing. . .
Dan G
(remove the 7)
"Ray Kinzler" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello,
>
> I am in the process of refinishing an old dresser SWMBO really likes
> for the kitchen. We stuck it in there to temporarily hold the
> microwave when we first bought the house... and it has temporarily
> been there for 14 years now.
>
> In any event, she really likes the thing and all the drawers. (I
> think it's a little funky but I ain't got no vote on the matter.)
>
> Well, time has come to refinish the darn thing. It is over 40 years
> old and was stained a maple hue.
>
> I have always thought the thing to be pine or something like that.
> But when I stripped the shellac and did a little sanding, I
> find...cherry!
>
> Well, the cabinets are oak and the kitchen table is oak-stained pine.
> So SWMBO figures we need to stain the dresser oak.
>
> Now, I am still sort of new to this hobby but it seems to me that it
> would be sacrilegious to stain something made out of cherry anything
> but, well, cherry. Or just a natural stain. I have a bunch of Minwax
> Antique Oil that I think would look good but she doesn't like it. She
> says it makes the piece look too light and doesn't go with the rest of
> the kitchen.
>
> She kinda drives me nuts with this matching wood junk but then again,
> if she had her way, every piece of wood in the house would be painted
> if she were to totally have it her way.
>
> So I am stepping gingerly here...I want it to look like wood but not
> oak-stained cherry! I think that would look terrible. If I used
> cherry Watco, would that darken it enough but not make it too, well,
> red?
>
> Am I asking stupid questions?
>
> Any advice is welcome!
Dan, thanks. Your answers were what I was really asking for. Charlie
and Tchswoods were helpful as well.
As you say, I am new to this. I was looking for some advice, I guess,
as to whether you guys who know your stuff would stain cherry or if
you would simply put something on it that was neutural.
Charlie and Tchswoods both indicated that cherry changes color when it
ages and as it is exposed to sunlight. What they say makes a lot of
sense because I looked at the grandfather clock in my mother's house
the other day. It is made of cherry and I don't remember it looking
that way as I was growing up--it seemed, well, darker. Doh!
I want to thenk you mostly, Dan, because you saw where I was coming
from: well-intentioned but inexperienced.
You are right that the non-showing parts are not made of cherry. They
may be birch but, again, I am new to this. The showing parts are
cherry and its color is unmistakable (I think!).
I guess I can just oil it like the other two guys said and let it be
exposed to sunlight and age so it can and will darken on its own.
Thanks a lot.
"Dan G" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> You did say that you are new to this hobby, so here are some
> generalities.
>
> No two pieces of wood will take the same color when stained, even of the
> same species.
> The color names on the can are just that - color names.
> No stain will look similar on different species of wood.
> End grain will look different than face grain.
> Rift sawn will look quite different than quarter sawn.
> Each stain color will look different again when covered with sealer -
> varnish, poly, oil
>
> Try to find an inconspicuous place on the dresser on which to
> experiment. Cabinet back, drawer side, end panel. Be aware that many
> of the non showing parts will be made from a different wood specie(s)?
>
> Lacquer based stains can be "painted" onto the wood to hide sap lines,
> etc. Most commercial stuff is done this way so the chairs or whatever
> all match. You can still see the grain through the stain. It ranks
> closer to art than to traditional woodwork
>
>
> Try several different stains on your piece. You can wet the stained
> wood with mineral spirits to get a good impression of what it will look
> like with finish over it. Let SWMBO choose what she likes or keep
> experimenting till she does. Make her sign a contract in triplicate
> that she won't change her mind or complain after you finish the project
> <ya, right>
>
>
> --
>
>
> Keep the whole world singing. . .
> Dan G
>
>
#1 "is oak-stained pine" WTF is Oak-Stained Like Pine?
#2 "need to stain the dresser oak" What is Stained Oak?
#3 Stain it whatever color makes both of you happy! Cherry is very dense and
will not take most stains without allowing it to almost dry before wiping.
--
Stephen
Remove not from the address
The Woodshop
http//thewoodshop.srfiii.com