Finishing Cherry, Methods and Tips with Tom McLaughlin

EPISODE #45: American Cherry is right alongside walnut when it comes to our most iconic native species. The color is a rich reddish-orange brown that deepens to a rich patina over time. But finishing cherry can be tricky...or very simple. In this episode I share my favorite methods and techniques for getting the best results and enhancing the natural beauty of this classic hardwood. (Close captioned for the hearing impaired.)

LINKS:

- Online Woodworking Courses
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- Full-size plans (36"x48")
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LIVE from his shop in New England, Tom McLaughlin, host of TV's Classic Woodworking, talks about woodworking from the basics to advanced skills. There's will be something for everyone in this series.

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[brianslocum]

Enhancing the natural beauty of the wood . Couldn’t agree more . Nature makes the material, we craft it into something beautiful and useful.

[rachelleelwood]

Thank you for the informative video! I am very new to woodworking and took on a dining table renovation project. I appreciate your tips and braking down every step 🙌🙏

[searchingforthgear]

I'm glad I found this. Thank you. Looking at finishing rifle stocks and this information was very helpful.

[DZNTZ]

I keep a spray bottle with 1:1 water and 91% alcohol handy for raising grain. Mist it all over and it’s fully evaporated and dry in seconds instead of an hour! Every little bit helps to cut down on finish waiting times. Great show, thanks for sharing!

[VaracolacidVesci]

Man thank you sooo much for sharing all this content. Im just starting my journey at woodworking, i do it as a hobbie and i have learn a lot from you. Looking forward for this course. Thank you again and stay safe and healthy

[joshuasmith]

I know this video is about Cherry but I used that same gel stain to refinish an oak sideboard/buffet and it looks amazing. Only thing I did different was wet the wood with mineral spirits before wiping on the gel stain.

[kennethspeed]

Fun as always. The shellac washcoat is a handy tip. An easy way to quickly enrich the color of a cherry piece is to put it outside on a sunny day; it'll visibly darken(oxidize) in a few hours.

[artagain]

Loved this unscripted content! Looking forward to the course. Thank you you for doing that Tom!

[tomg]

Thanks for your excellent info, Tom. Used shellac recently on a picture frame project, where I used some figured sapele veneer. It was pretty blotchy in my tests with oil based finishes (poly or danish oil). Tried shellac, based on your video, and got really nice results.

[JK-vrko]

Great vid...thanks so much for posting!

[WildManMedia]

I have some curly cherry i want to finsh it so it bring optimum grain pop . Im using it for knife handles

[Shopgirl]

Thank you for your video. My husband and I purchased a custom cherry fireplace mantle surround. We plan on finishing it ourselves, but have no woodworking experience. I’ve looked online at various articles and learned 3 ways to finish it. One was to wipe on tung oil that you featured, but it said sometimes it can absorb unevenly. Another was a spray on film finish, using shellac then polyurethane. Finally, a shellac and glaze finish, starting with a dewaxed shellac and glazing it with burnt umber artists oil color and liquid glazing . Which do you recommend for a mantle?

[animallover-lczh]

Hi. I was referred to you from a post on Fine Woodworking. I have a few questions about a cherry buffet top that I'm refinishing, if you could help me? First Q is: there was old water damage on the left corner area with a hole, and nearby 2-3 very black raised strips about 1/8" high and 4 inches long. Very black and hard. Surprisingly I was able to get those flattened nicely. However, with the hole, I made the mistake of filling it with a mixture of the sanded top residue and glue and it turned out black, due to the color of the stain. It still has a shallow indentation that I can fill with something, but I don't know what? And the black strips are very noticeable - I'd like to hopefully lighten them somehow (wood bleach?) so they don't stand out so much. That whole area, about 6x6 inches, will stick out like a sore thumb if left as-is. There might not be anything to fix that, or even make it less noticeable, but do you know of any possibilities? Don't see an option to attach a picture for you. One other question after this, if you don't mind. Thank you so very much. BTW, I've looked all over the internet and talked to local people and can't find an answer to my question(s).

[benborsa]

Another great one.
Question
You mentioned 1 of 3 options for aniline dyes one being for oil.
Is tongue oil tintable with aniline dyes?

[mattneff]

I just found your channel and I've subscribed. I had a question -- Danish Oil vs Waterlox, does the Cherry darken naturally overtime with both finishes?

[GrizzCraftCustoms]

Hello. Really appreciate your content! I can't seem to find the JE Mosers medium yellow maple. Do you have a recommendation for a comparable analine dye from WD lockwood or others?

[seadawg]

Great demo! If I use tung oil for a dining table and after months of use I get very small scratches can I apply more oil with steel wool to freshen the surface up?

[luxlarryj]

Love your shop talk. Trouble hearing the questions, a second mike would make the Q&A even better. thanks

[epexlinux]

Is there a way to make cherry wood not dent so easily?

[roxtc]

This was the most informative video I've found on finishing Cherry. Thank-you! Did you seal the cherry tray before Waterlox?