# fuming cherry wood



## gsulli (Nov 17, 2008)

how important is tent size and temp when fuming hardwood , i'm trying to fume cherry and after 30 hours I don't see a very big color change. I put the ammonia in a crockpot to keep the temp up because in mich it's getting cold. My project is in a plastic tent.


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## red (Sep 30, 2008)

I have heard of this fuming being done before, but I never have tried it. What kind of color/look are you going for? If I want a patina fast on cherry, I leave it in the sun for a while and it darkens quickly. Just a thought. Red


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## WDChew (Aug 31, 2007)

I haven't heard of fuming cherry. It's color is light sensitive. I've only heard of fuming oak. (Disclaimer on this one: Not an expert on finishing. Never tried it, only read about it on craftsman style pieces.)


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## Suz (Dec 8, 2006)

gsulli said:


> how important is tent size and temp when fuming hardwood , i'm trying to fume cherry and after 30 hours I don't see a very big color change. I put the ammonia in a crockpot to keep the temp up because in mich it's getting cold. My project is in a plastic tent.


If you want cherry to turn color fast, just spray it with a lye/water mixture. It's fast and you can control the color by how strong the lye mixture is. However, don't try to color your project before you experiment a little with some scraps.
I've tried brushing on the mixture, but it turned out blotchy whereas if I applied it with a paint sprayer I could control the color better.


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## Joe Spackle (May 20, 2008)

fuming wood is generally reserved for the tannin rich wood species

or the trees in the nut family,

Never heard of it working on the fruit bearing trees.

The lye /water mixture is one way the sunllight method is one other way.

Joe


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## gsulli (Nov 17, 2008)

*fuming cherry*

Thanks everyone for replying, after 1 week in the tent I gave up. I had read that any hard wood could be fumed. It did darken the cherry but not to the extent I was expecting. I have already stained my project red mahogany. Thanks again for the help. gsulli


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## John F. Teeple (Aug 30, 2009)

*fuming cherry*

So sorry I came into this forum too late. I have just completed a haritage style cradle out of cherry, and have put it into the tent to fume it with ammonia, (household strength). I tested a piece while I was assembling the cradle in a lunch box, but it took a week, it came out rich and dark, Just what I wanted. The only thing I am doing differant is the size of the tent. I will post in a week to let you all know how it does!


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

I regularly fume Oak and Red Oak. I use aqueous ammonia (26° Baume) or the ammonia used in the Ozalid machines. I have experimented and found that ammonia has almost no effect on cherry.

The size of the tent only needs to be large enough to hold the piece being fumed. Understand that ammonia fumes NH3 are lighter than air so that the fumes generally start from the top down. You want to keep the tent as small as possible. A low and flat tent is better than a tall narrow tent. The important thing about the tent it that it needs to be sealed to prevent fumes from escaping.

I made a "gas chamber" of sorts. It is about 13" x 15" x 60" and made from 3/4" melamine. Usually I fume the parts before glue up. The only thing that I've noticed is that fuming oak seems to harden the oak. (Probably my imaginary mind again.)

When I fume I try to plan for a time that I'm not going to be in the shop. Usually the oak stays in the fumes for 48 hours at a minimum but it usually it remains in the fumes for 4 or 5 days.

After fuming, the oak needs to "air" for about a week or two to allow the ammonia to seep out of the grain. 

The fuming of oak causes the wood to pick up a greenish cast under fluorescent light. For finishing you'll need to use a yellowing finish such as Minwax Antique Oil Finish. Most boiled linseed oil products will add yellow to the wood and are great for finishing fumed oak. The oiled fumed oak looks like a "Golden Oak" stain, a rather pleasing color.


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## logger dave (Sep 9, 2009)

*Cherry*

Cherry doesn't fume, nor does any other hardwood apart from Oak. I've had several orders from British Hardwoods of fumed Oak where they do it in their own factory. It looks stunning once the oak is oiled. You can find them here www.britishhardwoods.co.uk


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## Julian the woodnut (Nov 5, 2008)

Why don't you just use potassium dichromate instead of ammonia? It will darken the cherry to a very pleasing dark antique cherry look. It also works with mahogany. This is the way that I learned watching David Marks show.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

Julian the woodnut said:


> Why don't you just use potassium dichromate instead of ammonia? It will darken the cherry to a very pleasing dark antique cherry look. It also works with mahogany. This is the way that I learned watching David Marks show.


Any tips on the technique?


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## John F. Teeple (Aug 30, 2009)

My cradle came out beautiful. Some of you said this could not be done with household strength ammonia, some of you said that it could not be done with cherry, and so on. The first thing I would like to say is "don't guess!" I am ashaimed that their is so many opinions out there without people knowing what thier talking about! 
Now for what I had found out to be the facts! The wood that I was using was cherry, with some birch ply, and the household strength ammonia, did a wonderful job of bringing out the desired effect on the woods, including the birch. The only thing was that it took a little longer (about 2 weeks) to get there. And I tented the intire project after it was finished being assmbled, then fummed it! The ammonia looses strength after some time so it had to be replaced for the process to continue. Then I finished it with tung oil. Seeing is believing, have a look at my project, and you be the judge!!! the one picture is before it went into the tent, then the finished project, Without any stain or coloring agent! This process works! It just takes time and testing guys, not guessing!


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## Joe Spackle (May 20, 2008)

If I might inquire for further details of your process.

inside or outside?

temperature controlled?

the final finish? 

TIA


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

John F. Teeple said:


> The first thing I would like to say is "don't guess!" I am ashaimed that their is so many opinions out there without people knowing what thier talking about!


John,
The cradle is beautiful. I don't doubt what you did. What I don't understand is the chemical reaction between the cherry and ammonia. 

I'm about to go out to the shop and try it as I still have some 26° Baume ammonia left.

Hopefully, pictures to follow.


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## John F. Teeple (Aug 30, 2009)

Had to use what I had available to me. I have a small 4 foot table that I put bar clamps on the corners, and made a trash can liner tent, sealing it the best way I could, (the ol' standard, duct tape), around the cradle. Then I put a tray of household ammonia inside the tent and sealed it tight. This was kept inside my garage with no temp. control. About a week later I replaced the ammonia with a fresh batch to fume another week. Then I removed it to air out for a day, then finished it off with a few coats of tung oil. I am sure if you have some industrial strength ammonia it would work even faster! I know you cannot see it in the pictures, but the birch plywood bottom of the cradle came out just as stunning, I will be trying this out on some other types of wood in the future. When I ran my test pieces, I also put in a piece of red oak, It came out with a green tint that I did not care for, But I will do some more experments on it later! Good luck!!


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

John,
You don't say WHERE you are but you imply an area not California.

My suggestion for the green-ish tint on the red oak is to use Minwax Antique Oil Finish as your first finishing step. (2 coats) Then however you would normally finish your project. (Poly Lacquer Varnish whatever) The MAOF removes the green and turns the RO into a nice golden oak color.

BTW - We can't purchase MAOF in California due to CARB rules. I KNOW that MAOF is made with non photochemically reactive VOCs. But CARB has their collective heads in a dark and smelly place.


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## Joe Spackle (May 20, 2008)

> then finished it off with a few coats of tung oil.


After two weeks in a tent? 

I can understand the birch color in the tent, I have serious doubts as to what the cherry once again gained by two weeks of exposure. 

The last time I fumed some white oak I had to monitor the progress closely to keep from over doing the process. We are talking hours here not weeks.

Thanks for sharing, however the cradle looks very nice.......


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## Wood4Fun (Aug 29, 2008)

Doesn't all wood have some level of tannin? It makes sense to me that if there is a lower tannin content in the wood, it would simply take longer to do the fuming process.
I think everyone thinks oak for fuming because there is along tradition of using oak, and there is such a high tannin content in that wood that it produces rapid and stunning results.

Unless someone can point to authoritative documentation that only certain woods have tannin, I'd assume you can fume pretty much anything.

By the way, that cradle piece is stunning


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## John F. Teeple (Aug 30, 2009)

Thanks for your comments on the cradle. Please remember I was using a household ammonia, and I was monitoring it quite closely, I might have let it stay in the tent a little longer, but I was out of time, the baby shower was only a couple of day's away, so it was long hours in the garage. Also, Rich I am not too far from you, I live in Canyon Country, which, if you are not familier with the area, is about 25 miles north of Los Angeles. So as you do know it does get quite warm here. My feeling is that the heat has a minimal effect on the process, but hard to prove that one without allot of testing. And I'm into using most of my time into creating beautiful pieces of work. Luck


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## darty (Feb 1, 2009)

Here's a couple pics of a blanket chest made of cherry I finished a couple months ago. I fumed the wood with ammonia that I think was around 25%. I was amazed at how much darker it made the wood. The first pic is just after I finished and the second is finished.


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## John F. Teeple (Aug 30, 2009)

Awsome, Love the chest, and the hints of contrasting woods is quite a great look. The ammonia treatment seems to work very well with cherry, I know I will be doing it many times again in the future! Again great job!!!


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