Are these blotches in cherry normal? Need advise please

[GregZuydhoek71]

For those who are familiar with cherry. Are these blotches normal, and do they sand out. So far I’ve only used 60 grit on it.

 

[HarveyWildes]

They are normal, and will only get more beautiful as you sand to finer grits.  There are ways to make the natural figure less prominent, but they involve keeping oils from sinking into the wood (e.g. shellac or similar).  If you want to get rid of the figure entirely in your piece, I would replace that piece with one that does not have the figure.

 

[Rob Z]

Hello Greg

Many years ago, we had a customer who had nearly the entire house outfitted with something custom-built from cherry: kitchen cabinets, built-in bookcases, a Murphy bed, a credenza, and so forth.  A friend who was a cabinetmaker built everything and we installed it.  So, I got a good look at cherry after working with a zillion board feet of the stuff.  [big grin]  What you have looks typical and as Harvey noted, it will look even better as you work with it and then apply the finish.

The job I just described is also where I learned how cherry ages with time and the colors darken and become more beautiful.

 

[dltflt]

I hope you are not planning on staining this project. If you are you will need to use a pre color conditioner(that’s a Charles Neil product) before staining or you will have serious blotches.

 

[GregZuydhoek71]

Thanks for the information guys. I was really excited to put my new Rotex 150 on the cherry slab I had been sitting on for a couple years. It went from rough sawn to 60 grit smooth in no time. It reminded me of using a floor buffer when I was younger. Pretty much the same principle I believe.

 

[Birdhunter]

I’ve had blotches show up on cherry when applying the finish. The only way I avoided the blotches was to precoat with shellac.

I’d love to see the completed project.