Staining Cherry

<> Bill came to buy some cherry for door trim. The pieces had a little bit of sapwood on the best face.

“Can your customer live with this?” I asked.

“In this case, it’s no problem,” he answered. “They want me to put a walnut stain on it.”

I think Bill told me that just to see me do my little “don’t-make-me-sell-you-this-why-
would-you-pay-almost-$5/BF-just-to-stain-it” dance. Or maybe he wanted to hear the “Customer-is-always-right-I-love-my-customers-even-when-they-buy-cherry-to-make-
designer-toothpicks” chant.

Traumatic events imprint our memories. I remember the day John F. Kennedy died, the explosion of the Challenger, my wedding, and the day someone wanted to apply an ebony stain to black cherry.

“Why don’t you just buy this piece of pine and spray it with flat black rustoleum?” I was a young salesman then, and a little rough around the edges. Dave, my boss, took over, sold the guy some cherry and patted him on the back as he scurried out the door.

I believe that at the beginning, before God created the Heavens and the Earth, He established some basic universal laws. One of them is “Thou shalt not apply stains to expensive woods to make them look like less expensive woods.” God does not close a door without opening another. He also added the clause “Lesser woods shalt thou freely stain.”

Some wood stain well. Poplar, beech, red maple, and birch can look nice with a rich cherry color added. The difficulty is finding the right stain. I bought two brands off the hardware store shelf to stain poplar. Neither resembled cherry at all. Since then, in discussions with many professional cabinetmakers, I believe it’s less trouble to learn to love wood with clear finishes. Every wood is beautiful, in its own way.