Cherry Bookcase

[pogah]

Hi everyone

I've just about finished my American Cherry bookcase. Just have the crown mould to do and the finishing. The carcasses & shelves are cherry veneered MDF the rest is solid cherry.

This is by far the biggest project I have attempted and am very happy with the results so far. It is 3.4m wide and 2.7m high.

The plan is to disassemble it all and sand and finish each piece individually.

Cheers

Adrian

[RufflyRustic]

:o:clap: Congrats! That is one HUGE unit and well built.

How are you going to finish it?

Have you finished cherry before?

cheers
Wendy

PS, sorry, just have to ask, how long did it take to build it?:-

[flynnsart]

Great job. Yes and it is quite a big project. Looking forward to seeing the finish on it, it should look stunning.

Donna

[pogah]

Thanks Wendy

Finishing Cherry has been a real pain - an absolute killer. The number of offcuts I've mucked around with you wouldn't believe. I'm after a dark red / mohogany colour to suit the rest of the house and applying stain has been very blotchy.

I found that spirit based stains just will not work no matter how much sealing I apply first. The process I've decided on is a sanding sealer first to fill the grain, followed by a turps based stain, then two coats of poly. With 35m2 of area to do I really wanted finishes I can spray and/or roll. As I'm disassembling all the parts I can easily sand the clear coats to a very smooth finish with 600 wet & dry without fiddly corners etc.

The areas that have already been finished were a first attempt at a combo stain/varnish that I now have to remove.

In terms of time it is hard to count. I got heaps done in a few weeks (say 50 hrs) before the baby came - and then 8 months to finish off in two hours blocks here and there. Maybe 150 hrs??

[Chipman]

This might be too late for you but I do the following (messy but successful)

I use an oil based stain (Cabot's Interior Stain) and sand or burnish it in with 320 or 400 grit sandpaper (I did say messy) then when nearly dry, I wipe the excess slurry off across the grain and then rub it down with a clean soft cloth. Leave it for a day or 2 depending on the weather and then put a clear polyurethane over it (usually Minwax Wipe on Polyurethane or you could mix your own) I have sprayed on polyurethane but it is very wasteful (or I have poor technique:D) with overspray etc and difficult in bookcases.

Note: with some very hard dense woods, getting it too smooth makes it harder for the wood to take up the stain.

Just something to think about.

Chipman

[pogah]

Thanks Chipman

How much sanding does it take with the stain? I have a large area to do so it might be an issue if there is lots of sanding to be done.

I'm planning to use a roller for most of the area (disassembled they are flat pieces) and will spray only on panel doors, mouldings etc for that very reason ie: overspray waste.

[artme]

:o Well done!! :2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Huge as Wendy said.You will therefore need to take special care when positioning it so that it sits level and square.

[RufflyRustic]

Oh good. You are well aware of the blotchiness of cherry when staining, whew!

I'm glad to hear you are finishing it first and then putting it together. Even if only for the fiddly corners aspect, but I think this approach will also help you get a much better, more even finish.:2tsup:

Good luck - looking forward to seeing it finished.

cheers
Wendy

[Chipman]

Thanks Chipman

How much sanding does it take with the stain? I have a large area to do so it might be an issue if there is lots of sanding to be done.


Doesn't take a lot... if you are doing a flat surface you can use a sanding float and get over the surface pretty quickly. I did it first on a grandfather clock made out of Makore (often referred to as "cherry") would suggest you try it out on some scrap first. I tried lots of different methods and this one gave me the best results...effectively does the same job as a sandind sealer at the same time as it takes the raised grain off as the stain goes in and you end up with a really smooth even finish. If want a clear finish, I will use danish oil instead. Even really old dry red gum comes up nice after 2 or three treatments with the danish oil then the polyurethane.

There might be better ways but it is what works for me.

Cheers,
Chipman

[Glennet]

There was an article "How to finish cherry with no blotching" in FWW October 2008.

The bookcase looks great. Cherry is a beautiful wood.

[Chipman]

This might help

http://www.woodworking.com/wwtimes_cherry.cfm

Chipman

[Peter36]

That's a big project Adrian and you must be very happy with it . A first class job . To what extent are you able to disassemble the unit as it looks to me that all the panels,doors etc are glued up . Looking forward to the finished result.:2tsup::2tsup:

[pogah]

Hi Peter

The panels & doors are glued up but everything else is not. The carcasses, shelves, front mouldings etc can be taken apart.

The skirt is one piece, three bottom cabinets, five shelves and the side panels are all separate parts.

[BobR]

Great work Adrian. Looking forward to the finished work. :2tsup:

[Vernonv]

Wow, that's really nice work :2tsup:.

I must make sure the wife doesn't see this thread (I've got enough work on at the moment). :U