Stained or unstained - that is the question....

[sachbvn]

So - I'm working on a Cherry coffee table that someone asked me to make for them after they saw the one I made for my folks. They wanted it pretty much the same, and they liked the stain. Now - personally, I don't like stained as much as natural wood, ESPECIALLY Cherry - but my mom wanted the table to match existing woodwork so.... stained it was.

These are two pictures of the same board - cut in half, part stained, part finished with one coat of Arm-R-Seal - oh, the stained part has Arm-R-Seal over the stain. The pieces are butted up next to each other, just as they were before I cut them in half.

Why don't people appreciate the beauty of natural Cherry? I'm so discontent with staining the free-form top I bought for the table (that was my idea, not theirs) that I will probably end up making a separate top for this if they really want it stained. I'll keep the free form for myself and make a second table later.

The pictures don't really do it justice.






Zac

[TDHofstetter]

The stain does simulate the aging process, I'll give it that... but I'm of the no-stain school myself. That said, I've been known to use "Cherry" Watco a time or few.

[sachbvn]

See - the thing is..... I'm not so sure that stained Cherry will darken as noticeably as natural Cherry. I have a table I made just under two years ago - I can TOTALLY see that is is significantly darker than when it left the shop. Oh well - gotta please the customer right?

Zac

[imahic]

I agree with you, Zac. I think the unstained looks better also.

Mike

[sawduster]

Not usually a stain person either, but I gotta say, that particular stain is actually quite appealing and I can see why some might want to accelerate nature's process by applying that particular color. I like to watch nature take its course, but when making something for someone else, they may not be near as patient.

[Joe Lyddon]

I like the picture on the Left better.

[sachbvn]

I have to say two things:

One, it's hard to get an honest idea looking at two small samples of wood.

Two - yes, this is very nice stain. It's General Finishes Gel stain - Georgian Cherry - VERY good stuff, the best I've worked with.

It's not that I don't like how the stain turns out..... I just prefer the natural Cherry best.

Still not 100% decided if I am going to use the free form top for this table or not, meaning - am I going to stain it - or save it for personal use.

Zac

[lexrex]

I like no stain on cherry, I think we are in the minority of non-woodworkers. People have been brainwashed to think that the stained one in your picture is "natural" cherry, cuz that's what the can says!

I have some stained cherry bedroom furniture and that stuff actually became lighter in the 1-2 year time frame and is only now starting to get a bit darker.

If your top looks anything like your sample here, keep it, looks purty to me

[sachbvn]

Chris,

After I get the top seam smoothed out and the whole thing sanded - I'll throw some DNA or MS on it and take a quick photo - so you can see how nice it looks, it probably won't have the edges all cleaned up though, that's going to take some work.


Zac

[Ruffnek]

The stained piece looks great but so does the natural piece. It's really personal preference and the fact that, as Chris wrote, people have been programmed to think that Cherry is that dark, reddish color naturally.

Cherry does darken with age but I don't know if it ever gets that dark...at least not in a single generation.

I do agree that you should keep the free-form top and use something else if you are staining it.

Also, you don't want to try to fool the customer but you might inform them that if they want a stained piece, you can use much cheaper woods than Cherry and end up with virtually the same look.

[Stretch]

I don't like staining cherry. Even plain cherry has some beautiful grain under a film finish. The grain has an appearance of depth to it. Staining it mutes this characteristic. If I need to add color to cherry, I do it with a tinted top coat that doesn't mute the grain character nearly as much as a stain.

[Leo Voisine]

I like the natural look of wood unstained.

I did make a sign for a person and they wanted General Finshes "warm cherry". It hurt me to do it - but I give the customer what they want.

I looked so good to me that I actually but rarely use it.

Both of your samples look good to me.

No I do not believe Cherry ever gets THAT dark.

Yes - most people have no idea what Cherry really looks like and when they see natural Cherry - they generally don't even believe it's really cherry.

I go with whatever the customer wants. If they ask me what I think is best I always say natural - but I do show them what natural is. Because I KNOW that they don't know what Cherry looks like.

[sawduster]

Some seven or eight years ago I made some built-ins in our home office from cherry solids and ply. Finish was only BLO and clear shellac. The heartwood has darkened significantly but is no where near the color from a can shown in the initial post.

IMO the stain shown in the initial post is closer to the coloring of the Brazillion Cherry flooring I put down on the floor in the office though not quite as tight grained.

[wisardd1]

Too the contrary of many, I prefer stain in most all standard hardwoods. The more exotic is a different story because of the typical exotic grains and colors. To me unfinished cherry looks like unfinished cherry. I can go either way with some of the mahogany's and walnuts. JMO