Black cherry

[the skrat]

i log for a living in michigan and you are right about ash having curl in it but what most peaple dont realise is most trees in any species has curl its just that its right at the stump where the tree flares out so on large trees that can be 2 feet high we call it stump or butt curl i have seen this in every species of tree. maple trees seem to be the tree that has the most chance of having good curl throughout the tree and a lot of times it doesnt run real consistant or maybe only 10 to 12 feet up the tree. last summer i had a job that i cut 5 curly maple veneer in a couple of days and 3 trees still had good curl 35 feet up the tree. i sold 1 log 3 feet long and 14 inches in diameter that chunk of firewood brought me 75 dollars. :thumbsup: ash can have some real tight curl but cherry seems to have more of a wavy grain.

curly maple

 

[Wehrmacht]

curley, you and I are fortunate in that we make our living in the woods where we get to see and experience things that other fellows loose out on.

I have a friend over in west Tennessee,Freddie Harrison,(you'll occaionally see his adds in Muzzle Blasts) who also logs for a living. He has a little WoodMiser mill and saws a lot of speciality products and makes a darn good living out of it. Freddie will dig down a couple of feet around a choice maple or ash or whatever and saw a tree off below the root collar producing a stock blank with curl and a grain pattern that turns down with the drop through the wrist to the buttplate. He produces some of the prettiest and best blanks you'll ever[url] see.Ain[/url]'t cheap either!

I think the most beautiful piece of Black Walnut I've ever seen came out of your area in the U.P. It's on a Rowan County N.C. rifle that Dave Dodds made for me. I've never seen a more dense and beautiful grain pattern on Walnut :hatsoff:.

Our hardwoods down here in the Deep South aren't the quality as yours up north.We get a lot of mineral stain which the furniture people consider a cull factor.Most of the hardwood that I sell goes into pulp,pallets and crossties .

 

[the skrat]

we have a woodmizer also as of today we are starting spring breakup so we cant haul wood because the frost is coming out of the groundand the roads have weight restrictions on them so time to fire up the sawmill. last summer when i cut those curly maple logs i wanted to dig the stump out this tree was a triple so i cut the stump about 3.5 feet high so if i dug in the ground i think i could of had a full lengh stock out of 2 of the trees. but the next day i went on vacationfor a week when i came back the stumps were black and full of black goo it had been 95 and humid all week. btw the log buyer came in the next day and bought the logs and actually puts them in a huge refridgerator and waxes the ends.
i cut some really nice maple this winter and brought home some of the big crotches gonna see if i can cut out some pistol blanks some crotches have some pretty wild grain.

curly maple

 

[DrTimboone]

So what do you all think are good stains for Cherry. I prefer a reddish darker color. Would you use AF, LMF Cherry? or something else if you were looking for this type of coloring. I'd prefer not to have to wait for the sun to color it.

 

[rich pierce]

Lots of people use lye to stain cherry. I guess it interacts with the crystals in the wood. It's supposed to be the traditional way of staining cherry.

 

[DrTimboone]

Is there a particular quality or type of Lye? Where can I get some?

 

[Flintandsteel]

Guys,

I have one of the prettiest pieces of cherry that is currently intended for a lightweight 28g fowler.
It has a pretty vivid figure throughout the stock. Like most cherry however, it is not going to be a distinct as curly maple, and the figure is more of a braided or rope type figure.
I'll try to get some pictures posted.

 

[Zonie]

Regular common ole lye will do the trick. It's usually in the plumbing section of hardware stores because it is an excellent (although dangerous) drain opener.

After the stock is whiskered several times, mix up a fairly strong solution of lye and water (add the lye to the water, not the water to the lye. A lot of heat will be generated).
About a tablespoon to a cup of water is about right.

Use a synthetic bristle brush and paint a very wet, heavy coat of it onto the wood.
At first it will just look like wet wood but after a few moments, it will start to darken.
Let it dry, then apply a wash of vinegar to neutralize the lye.

The lye water desolves the tannon in the wood and brings it to the surface.
This process has been used for hundreds of years for furniture making and I suspect more than one original 18th century gun also was treated with this process.

WEAR RUBBER GLOVES AND EYE PROTECTION!!!
Lyewater will desolve your skin, hair, eyes, damn near anything which was ever alive. That's the reason you can't use a natural bristle brush. It won't last over a few seconds.
Have some vinegar handy to neutralize any that gets on you. (you will instantly know because it feels like your on fire).

Interestingly, it has no effect on steel, brass or German Silver so inlays can be in place without worry.

Although I haven't used this on Cherry, I have had excellent results on Curly Maple. It darkens the stripes more than it does the lighter areas between them resulting in much greater contrast.

On CM, applying more than one heavy coat doesn't seem to have much effect.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I would refer any interested in figured wood to read some mid 1700's accounts of such. ( Travels into North America Kalm, Pehr, 1716-1779 ) The author notes that craftsmen would often lay waste to a great many trees attempting to find just one with desired figure. This to include the Maples and walnut. (with figured walnut being the most expensive)

This author was a Swedish professor touring North America, 1747-50. He made notes on most everything he observed, homes, buildings and materials, foods, trees, weeds, insects, habits, farming, medical treatment, pets, animals, climate, weather, water, European peoples, Indians, slaves, indentured servants, utensils, stoves, mining, black smiths, smelters, gun building, hunting, all types of boats and ships, carts, sledges, in short, he missed very little.

His opinions and mindset reflect the times, and many today would be long be proven wrong and outdated. But, his observations of the actual natural and civilized world he saw and recorded, has changed much of what I thought I might have known. Over nine hundred pages in his two volumes, much food for thought to be perused.

One can download the PDF volumes and read at leisure.
[url] http://www.americanjourneys.org/pdf/AJ-117a.pdf[/url]
[url] http://www.americanjourneys.org/pdf/AJ-117b.pdf[/url]