Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
Cherry Pen Blanks
Jerry Whitaker
>I just got some cherry burl pen blanks and they do not look like cherry. They have lots of swirls, eyes etc but they are very light in color. How do you get the cherry red color that I see in everybody elses pictures? Do you stain them, dye them or do they just turn that red color months after finishing?
Re: Cherry Pen Blanks
Joseph
>I've never bought cherry. But it's usually a light color when I cut it. It turns darker if it's set out in the sun for a while.
Re: Cherry Pen Blanks
Tom Mullane
>Jerry, cherry will develop that nice color you are looking for over time. To get the burl to really pop and make the pen a little darker, hit it with some 50/50 blo/mineral spirits before finishing. After letting the blo dry a bit, buff it with a piece of brown paper bag to really smooth the blank and then apply finish of choice (for me this is a CA finish) This really pops the grain on cherry and darkens it somewhat...
Most of the "red" cherry seen is actually dyed... something I never do with cherry. I prefer to let it age naturally.
Re: Cherry Pen Blanks
Ron in Drums PA
>Cherry darkens over time.
If you are in a hurry give it a suntan for a day or so.
Re: Cherry Pen Blanks
Carole in VA
>DOn't know about cherry burl, but cherry heart wood will darken with exposure to light fairly quickly. This is something that I discovered when I went to pull out a cherry board that had another board partially covering it. Uncovered areas were dark, covered areas were light.
Re: Cherry Pen Blanks
Greg W. in NC
>Jerry,
Not that I necessarily recommend it, but you can LIGHTLY wipe lye on it, and it'll immediately turn very dark. Be sure and wash off the lye immediately, use proper precautions, etc.
Re: Cherry Pen Blanks
Pete in Holland
>Easy-off oven cleaner (which contains lye) also works on the heart wood of cherry. Need to rinse it off though.
Re: Cherry Pen Blanks
Greg W. in NC
>Pete,
Yes, I actually think we used Dran-O or something similar. I didn't realize the oven cleaner had it also. No wonder my oven looks dark red! ;-)
