Aging a Cherry Stock naturally….?

[IanH]

Probably moisture getting into/under the finish and blanching it. Lacquer especially. Nobody can tell me that in 30 years they never left their windows open on a cool, misty day.

 

[LME]

I live in a house full of cherry woodwork and know what I see daily, you see what you see. While thirty plus years of direct sun have bleached my window sills my cherry gun cabinet out of direct sun has darkened nicely as the wood has oxidized. YMMV

Cherry will darken naturally regardless of whether sun hits it or not but sun light speed the process up. I have a lot of cherry and a host of other exotic woods that darken with age. I don't know your situation but I do know what happens to my stash of wood. I did google this up and it says the same thing?

 

[1950DAVE]

40 yrs east facing window trim, the light wood is pine that was stained minwax cherry when installed, it has faded some.


Just around from previous pic, facing inside room, has never had direct sunlight.
No stain was applied when woodwork was installed, one coat oil based sanding sealer, two coats satin poly.
Just my experience.

 

[LME]

40 yrs east facing window trim, the light wood is pine that was stained minwax cherry when installed, it has faded some.
View attachment 257593

Just around from previous pic, facing inside room, has never had direct sunlight.View attachment 257594
No stain was applied when woodwork was installed, one coat oil based sanding sealer, two coats satin poly.
Just my experience.

Could it be that when cleaning your windows you got some of the cleaner on the trim and it could have lightened the wood?

 

[1950DAVE]

Nope

 

[RMH]

My cherry Kibler Woodsrunner:
new raw wood from box; Unstained with Tried & True oil in May of this year; Today after spending maybe 50-80hrs. in the sun.

 

[1950DAVE]

Exactly

 

[LME]

Lots of voodoo and old wives tales about wood finishing out there. Here is some info from a much-trusted-source, the Internet. Cherry darkens with age and sunlight exposure, walnut bleaches under the same conditions.. More than 30 yrs floor finishing and 50+ yrs of wood working has taught me a little.
https://www.thewoodworkplace.com/how-to-darken-cherry-wood/

A friend of mine had a Grand Piano in a front room of his house and the sun hit the window in the room at an angle. It made a quarter of the top on his Piano real light due to sun light. the Piano was made of Walnut. Sun darkens Cherry and lightens Walnut? You can't get two woods to agree? LOL!

 

[Polecat_Tom]

Sun darkens Cherry and lightens Walnut? You can't get two woods to agree? LOL!

Then add in Oak and Maple.

 

[tjiann]

My cherry Kibler Woodsrunner:
new raw wood from box; Unstained with Tried & True oil in May of this year; Today after spending maybe 50-80hrs. in the sun.

Well you've convinced me to do the same thing with my Kibler Colonial. That's exactly the look I want. Thanks.

 

[winter1857]

Frank Miller Hardwoods on photosensitivity in hardwoods:

"All wood is photosensitive to varying degrees. Three species of commercially available American hardwoods stand out from the rest as being more sensitive to color changes when exposed to light of any kind and oxygen: tulipwood (known in the US as poplar), walnut and cherry. Several years ago an architect talked to me about using walnut in flooring in what was basically a glass cube with floor to ceiling windows. I told him to avoid using walnut in a high traffic area because it is to the softer end of the scale of the Janka Scale, a measure of the surface hardness of hardwoods. I also told him to steer away from walnut in that application because its color would bleach out in the direct stream of UV light. After a year of that direct sunlight exposure all of the aesthetic qualities of the beautiful walnut heartwood would be lost.

Cherry is sensitive to all light, even incandescent light. Its heart color will move eventually from a pinkish color to light reddish brown. If there is a rug covering part of a cherry floor you will be able to lift that rug a year after the floor is installed and see that the exposed part of the floor is a darker color than the section protected by the rug. Eventually all of the color will even out, but it takes time."

 

[winter1857]

My cherry Kibler Woodsrunner:
new raw wood from box; Unstained with Tried & True oil in May of this year; Today after spending maybe 50-80hrs. in the sun.

That is very nice. I'm patiently waiting for my SMR to get there.