lye opinions?

[rallen]

I will be staining my cherry fowler with lye to hopefully acheive a dark mahogany color. The worst thing is a pink/orange cherry stock. I've heard that Red Devil is too red? Some guys make their own from hardwood ashes. Are there any opinions on what works best?
Thanks
Ryan

[LynnC]

E-Z Off works great.

Test it on some of your stock scraps

[PIKELAKE]

Sometime ago I finished a cherry stock with real lye ( Red Devil I believe). I used one application, about a tsp in about 8oz of water. I then hit the stock with some white vinegar. The stock came out a little on the orange side. I flushed it with water and applied another coat of lye water. The color was then more to my liking. I then finished it with Chamber,s oil finish which has a red cast to it. I think the stock came out good to my eyes. Never tried Easy Off cause I had some lye. You best give a piece off scrap a try with whatever first. Wish I had a picture. The end product was not really red but more of a mahogany color. Good luck.

[Ionian]

When making furniture out of cherry, I no longer stain it. If you let it get enough sun light it will turn into a beautiful color all on its own. Staining cherry, along with the pines, has always caused us problems.

[Gregory]

I've done a couple of cherry stocks with lye.  I think it's the concentration that affects the color.

Experimentation (on a separate piece) is the best bet.

I think Red Devil is fine because it's pure straight lye.  You can dilute it to whayever strength you like.

I too use about 1 heaping tablespoon per 8 oz. cup of water, and neutralize with vinegar.

Wisker your stock 2 or 3 times, do the lye treatment, neutralize, rinse with clean water, allow to dry and then burnish the stock.

Experiment!  Different pieces of cherry will stain different.

Greg

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

I like the lye from the science store... no cleaners or anything added.....     Try different concentrations AND  seal with a 1# cut of dewaxed garnet shellac..to give even more of the dark antique cherry look.   Set the stock out in the sun and it will turn dark faster also.

[Dennis Glazener]

Some guys make their own from hardwood ashes. Are there any opinions on what works best?
Thanks
Ryan

I made lye from hickory/oak wood ashes to stain a cherry stock it didn't get the stock dark enough so I ended up adding a teaspoon of Red Devil lye and it worked great. BUT lye really ages wood and if you want that then use the lye but if you just want the dark mahogany color I think I would use something else.
Dennis
 

[Mark Elliott]

I only used lye once (Red Devil) to stain cherry.   I got a wonderful cordovan color that I loved.   The thing about chemical stains like lye or nitric, you just can't predict exactly what you will get.  Uncharacteristically (since I am a control freak), I actually like that.    You get what you get, nature decides.   However, some people hate that.  They want a particular color or look.   If that is the case, then you will want to go another way.  In any case, you should test your finish on a piece of scrap.

[rallen]

Thanks guys for all the experience. Sounds like I will have to mix up some solutions and try them out on the wood. I'm just looking to add 200 yrs to the final product. Also sounds like whatever protectant would or could darken the final color. Hadn't thought about that.
Thanks
Ryan

[westerner]

When making furniture out of cherry, I no longer stain it. If you let it get enough sun light it will turn into a beautiful color all on its own. Staining cherry, along with the pines, has always caused us problems.

I use the same technique on Walnut. The finished stock is left in the sun till it has a nice redish pecan color. Then I burnish it to knock down the fuzz and apply my finish. Interesting it works on Cherry too. I have a big Cherry plank that is very red when wet. It must weight 400 pounds. Maybe I cut some stock blanks from it.

            Joe. 

[Captchee]

 I sometimes wonder if the type of cherry  itself plays a  part  in how it takes the color
 This stock was cut from a long dead Bing Cherry tree .
 The area I live in  used to have miles and miles of  fruit orchards
 A neighbor of mine  some time back called up and stated that  his father  had all this fruit wood out in  his old barn and  wondered if I could use it .
 When I got over there . Most all  of it  was  in  small slabs for either turning of making  veneers.
 The old guy had stacks  of wood and had labeled everything  .
 I came home with one plank that was labeled Royal Lambert and I was able to get  4 nice pistol stocks from it .
The larger plank was labeled  Bings

 The wood was completely different in its grain . Now I don’t know if  that was do to  the way it was grown or what .
 But the   lamberts is  somewhat wavy in it character and has a  rather  natural pink tent as its aged .
 The Bings, I ended up using right away . The coloring seemed to be more marbled with  converging  degrees of natural color  . Very much near a Burrell from one end to the other
 Maybe this was also do to the age of the tree . I cant say as  there was no information on the piece .  But as you can see  it was a  Phenomenal piece of wood .

[westerner]

Beautiful wood for sure!

What finish did you use?  Assuming no stain or Lye treatment?? 



          Joe.

[Captchee]

Beautiful wood for sure!

What finish did you use?  Assuming no stain or Lye treatment??  



          Joe.

 well  no .
 its a Dye  actually and Lye combo  .
 I used Lye , then  brought it back .
 this acted to  inhance the figure
Then followed  with a
 mix of Alcohol based  Cordovan and Ox blood .
 that was folowed with  a couple flood coats  of linseed .
4 rubbed coats . wet sanded between  and  then 2  thin coats of Tung

 it came out trully as deep as  what you see . but up close  its still looks like wood  LOL

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

stained with lye, sealed with dewaxed garnet shellac 1# cut, taken back to wood finished with several coats of Chambers Traditional Oil Finish.

[westerner]

I've often wondered about Cherry, its color and figure. Never before had a chance to get my grubbys on a piece till I saw this laying in my neighbors yard. He had two pieces. They had been laying in the shade of large Cedar trees. The plank was wet and the sun shining on it when I walked by. The red color really caught my eye. I got it for the asking. Dave took the other one to his wood shed for drying. It was overcast and very dark when I took this picture so the color is not near what I saw.

This summer I'll square it up on the mill and cut some blanks from it. 






          Joe.   

[Stophel]

There's no such thing as "too red".   

Usually, fresh cut cherry is a fairly light pinkish-orange color (some cherry is darker naturally....).  If left exposed to air, it will turn a beautiful light brown.  I do not know how long this actually takes.  Some folks "fume" cherry to speed this up with ammonia cleaner fumes.

Lye does make it more red.