[Greenbuilding] Cherry wood finish, was: Re: A question regarding sealing in VOCs

[Don Lush]

Thanks Ron, Corwyn, Stephen, Ben and everyone for your ideas and comments.
We will experiment with some of the oil finishes (and bath water) using some
of the off cuts and then go for that instant rich patina. 

Don

-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of RT
Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 6:48 PM
To: Green Building
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Cherry wood finish, was: Re: A question
regarding sealing in VOCs

Don wrote:

> - I am building a set of stairs with cherry treads and am looking for 
> a finish - It does not have to be too durable as there are only two of 
> us in the house.


Do n ;

I'm wondering whether you need to put anything at all on the treads ?

In my own home, I made treads out of 6/4 Hard Maple and just left them
nekkid.
("Finish" = Planed, burnished with a hand scraper )

Almost three decades later, there are no undesirable effects from having
done so.

(Black ?) Cherry is not unlike Maple in that it is a tight/closed-grain wood
so it really doesn't need to be "sealed" like open-grained/porous-cell
structured woods like Oak  and isn't fragile as softwoods like Pine.

About the only reason that you might want to put any gunk on Cherry is to
darken it to bring out the rich colour (not something one needs to do with
light-coloured woods like Maple).

Of course, if people are going to be clomping up and down the stairs wearing
mud/manure-caked, hob-nailed boots, then it might be a different story, in
which case I'd look at something other than a wood surfacing for the treads
(ie stone or porcelain would be a better choice IMO). In my home, people
remove their shoes at the door and the mutts do not go up the stairs so the
nekkid Maple is fine.

Traditional Japanese wood floors were similarly left "unsealed".  They would
use the used bathwater to do a damp mopping if/when mopping was necessary,
the oils from the skin being about the only "oiling" done and over
successive years of being polished by slippered feet, the flooring would
acquire a rich patina.

For the Cherry treads, if an "instant" patina is desired, perhaps a mixture
of some thin-bodied innocuous oil like mineral oil or lemon oil or maybe
even olive oil  + beeswax or vegetable wax could be rubbed in/wiped dry in
the manner of a Danish oil finish (ie natural-looking "satin"  
finish rather than a plasticky-looking "glossy" finish.

Maybe you would heat the oil/wax to facilitate application/ deeper
penetration.

--
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

< A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a  > (manually winnow the chaff
from my edress if you hit "reply")

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