working and finishing cherry

[thecapgunkid]

There's another post on finishing the stock, but my questions are these;

I bought what appears to be a seconds cherry stock at the Dixon Fair and am now getting around to working with it.

Aside from watching chisel sharpening like a hawk, what differences are there in working cherry versus maple.  This one's my first

Also, the other post mentions darkening when exposed to sunlight.  If no stain is used, how dark does the wood normally get?

Thanks

Capgun

[Mikecooper]

Exposure to direct sunlight will darken cherry,  try it first with some of your cut off scraps.  Do this before you put finish on the wood.  I think its the UV that darkens it so you could build a cabinet with UV lights if you don't have a lot of natural sunlight this time of year. 

[Nordnecker]

I just finished working with some cherry lumber. It was from at least 2 different trees. One batch of boards was buttery soft and easy to work, the other was hard and brash with sworls in the grain and wasn't cooperative at all. So it depends on the board. Cherry does darken over time from exposure to sunlight but I think you'll want to stain that gunstock. I tried different concentrations of lye dissolved in water and got the results I was looking for. It is a reactive stain, not a pigment so it left the figure clear, not blotchy.
I used about 1 tsp of lye to a coffee mug of water. Too much lye made the wood too red for me. I neutralized with white vinegar and tea after the lye solution had dried a bit. This wash seamed to bleach out the first one a little, but the color was there when I went to the finish.

[Sawfiler]

One thing to be careful of if you are using oven cleaner as a source of lye to darken the stock is to be sure the oven cleaner actually has lye in it. At the class I just came from we tried regular Easy Off and heavy duty Easy Off. The regular just turned the wood a grey-green color, the heavy duty darkened it to a nice red. When we looked at the label the regular did not contain any lye as the active ingredient. I was sure glad I didn't spray my stock down with that without testing it first.

[Majorjoel]

I finished a cherry stocked piece using a vinegaroon stain or treatment may be a better word.  White vinegar\5% acidity with some old iron nails swimming around in it for about 6 months.

The first application turned the stock kind of a brownish color but when I hit it again it went very red. Left it overnight and I was shocked that the stock went total black on me!   I went over it with a very diluted baking soda\water mix and it came back to a nice rich red with darkened undertones.

I sold that rifle before I ever took any pictures of it but I would do it again if I had a piece of cherry!

[n stephenson]

Some Cherry I have worked with was slightly brittle and would splinter easily. I always tell people if you are using sandpaper along the forearm be very careful of little cracks that can grab the paper , or you`ll have a piece broken off pretty easy. Just always be aware of grain direction , and you should be OK . Nate

[Mike Brooks]

It's about like all other stock wood, some is great and some isn't. I haven't had any special trouble with it other than  it's usually pretty soft.