Oxidizing cherry

[Mike C]

Does anyone have a qick and reliable recipe to oxidize American cherry?
Mike C

[David Rase]

I think people have been using a solution of lye disolved in water.  That's what I did once.
DMR

[LynnC]

E Z Off oven cleaner
Has lye in it.  Spray it on and wash it off - works fast
Its all I use on cherry now.  Can't find lye at the store anymore cause of the meth heads cooking meth with it. Guess its of the market.  Test it on some scrap........Lynn

[volatpluvia]

Lye will give you a bright red color.  Is that what you really want?  If you put one coat of boiled linseed oil on your cherry stock and then wait a few days before putting your varnish on you will have a very nice reddish brown color that will make the stock appear aged.  It will deepen with age and look richer as it goes along.  Do you really want bright red?
volatpluvia

[LynnC]

I don't get bright red - mine turns out a deep rich dark redish brown.  The longer you leave on the lye (ez off), the darker it gets.

A freind of mine uses the boiled oil method to finish his cherry furniture.  It starts out red and slowly darkens over time.  Days, weeks and months sometimes to get that rich red brown color.  I like to get the color a little faster

[Dave Faletti]

I put my stock out in the sun after the linseed oil and it darkens fairly quick.  I haven't tried it but a black light or other UV source (tanning bed?) might do it a lot quicker.

[Robert Wolfe]

I too use EZ Off oven cleaner and get a beautiful reddish brown. Not sure where the bright red comes from.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

You can order Lye from The Science Company online. It woeks very well and you should experiment with different strength solutions to find the color your want. It gives a deeper looking color than just the linseed oil. You can seal it with garnet shellac to add even more color depth.m then fionish with oil varnish.

[bdixon]

Mike check out my old post that I did on my Wifes cherry stock.
I think it is like my #73 post on my profile.


My application of lye is pretty straight forward, I whiskered the stock once and then took 3 tablespoons of 100% lye to 1 quart of water and mixed well outside.  Gets warm and fumes a bit.  Then I just took a soaked rag and washed it all over in the longest strokes I could to avoid any overlaps,  Sopping wet everywhere.  I let it sit for 20 minutes and really rinsed with a garden hose.  Thats all I did with it.  My 10 minute soak test piece is lighter in color than my 20, I preferred the 20, but don't forget it will probably darken with age like Robby suggested. Oh yea wear gloves I was in a hurry and didn't.  Although my hands are cleaner today than they have been in many, many years.

http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss141/bdixon66/Cherry/DSC04031.jpg
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss141/bdixon66/Cherry/DSC04030.jpg


Brett.

[Joey R]

Mike, I told you that the answers are here, lot's of 'em.

[Robby]

Mike, I have had good results with aqua fortis. Depending on the particular piece of cherry, it can turn it a very sooty looking black, but have no fear, you can rub it back with steel wool to the desired shade of aged cherry that suits you. If you have a scrap from the stock you are using, that would be a good test piece. Natural aging of cherry is pretty fast, just leave it in the sun, even indoors it will turn. One picture shown is of a stock that was a pale pink and has already developed color with minimal exposure. The other is one treated with aqua fortis, and rubbed back.


Good luck!
Robby

[pathfinder]

LOVE the bottom guncolor! I've been a furniture re-finisher my whole life and on cherry,I like potasium permaginate,purple crystals. I use to get it at sears for a water softener my Dad had.Dixie gun works also had a product call "Old Bones" that worked too. I think that was mixed P/P.(not pee-pee!) It does fade in time,but by the time it does,the cherry has already done it's thing. Although after seeing the color Robby got with A/F,I may try that on my next Cherry gun!

[volatpluvia]

Okay,
I stand corrected.  The household lye must not have been left on long enough on the one I saw done that way and I made an assumption.
Even so I really like the way Linseed oil darkens cherry.  I like cherry a little brighter than the example done with AF.  But then that is just my taste. 
In fact, I like the way cherry looks when left in the sun to age naturally.  It is a lovely wood and really does not need much in the way of enhancement.  Just like a truely lovely woman doesn't need paint!  Hee! Hee!
volatpluvia

[westerner]

Does anyone have a qick and reliable recipe to oxidize American cherry?
Mike C

When I read that the first time it reminded me of a oxidized plank I have drying. It's almost a white chalky oxidation.


Oh, red, Duh.   

          Joe.

[Mike C]

Thanks for all the input. I have a good supply of scraps to experiment with.
Mike C