Trying to make cherry sapwood look good


chrisphr

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==>airbrush dye.  How is that done?

I’ve promised someone a video of the technique – forget who... I’ve got a Cherry media cabinet on-deck, so in a month (or three), I’ll shoot it as part of the schedule... Unfortunately, the project isn’t underwater, so I’ll have to learn how to use a land video camera... :)

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If you produce work as fine as George Nakashima, I'll let it slide.  Most live edge pieces are hideous.  It's so overdone these days...and badly.

I have one done one live edge piece and that is enough for me.  I dislike it everytime I look at it.  I'd cut the edge off and reshape the top but my wife likes it.  Even more frustrating is that it is a beautiful piece of butternut that has really developed a nice color over the past year or two.   Like Eric said, live edges can look nice but it is a little too trendy now and difficult to execute well.  

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  • 6 years later...

I know it’s a little hard to tell from the photo but can sapwood run the entire width of a board?  I was digging through a pile of cherry that someone gave me and there were three boards that looked like this. I was not sure if this was just a really light colored cherry or if it was all sapwood. Either way it will work as was just using on some parts that are not going to be seen 

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16 hours ago, Woodworking_Hobby said:

know it’s a little hard to tell from the photo but can sapwood run the entire width of a board?

It's hard to tell in the rough of the boards you have shown but short answer yes.

If you have a lot of sapwood to work with sometimes it's beneficial to try and incorporate it into the project as an accent or feature. It can be difficult though.

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I have had cherry that is deep reddish-brown and I have had some that is near-maple in appearance.  When there is a blend I will use it as a design element.

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When the sapwood or lighter material is the dominant part of the board I will use it as a secondary wood for drawer boxes, framing, reinforcement, or glue blocks.

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Other than the optics associated with the initial color / how it takes stain / how it will age; are there any physical issue with using the sapwood that should prevent it from being used in the project?  I read it can have a higher moisture content than the heartwood,  but this wood is from a commercial shop that was dried and I checked it with my meter and looks good to use from a moisture perspective.  I was just not sure if there was anything else to be aware when using. 

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@gee-dub, my next project will have a bb end like yours and I wanted to add an under bevel to the top but have never seen it done with the bb end. I’m thinking of only a 1” overlap of the top on the front and two sides and the bevel on those three sides will not be as extreme angle as yours. You have helped me decide, unintentionally to add it. 

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9 hours ago, Woodworking_Hobby said:

Other than the optics associated with the initial color / how it takes stain / how it will age; are there any physical issue with using the sapwood that should prevent it from being used in the project?  I read it can have a higher moisture content than the heartwood,  but this wood is from a commercial shop that was dried and I checked it with my meter and looks good to use from a moisture perspective.  I was just not sure if there was anything else to be aware when using. 

Sap wood is just like the heart wood, the only difference is that the tree hasn't deposited extractives into it yet to change it's color. On outdoor woods sapwood is more prone to deredation but for indoor furniture that is a non-issue. Haven't heard the MC comment but I don't know that I'd believe that. From a commercial source it's gonna act just like any other cherry wood.

If there was a problem with sap wood and it's use maple wouldn't be white nor as widely used. The prized white maple is in fact the sapwood of the tree.

 

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