Any tips to match cherry plywood with Brazil. Cherry hardwood?

[Black Bart]

I am currently building my own kitchen cabinets. For the doors, I am using Jatoba (Braz. Cherry) for rails and styles and the face frame using the "Shaker Style" look. For the panels I was hoping to use 1/4" cherry, MDF core G2S but I am worried that two will not match up very well and my cabinets will wind up looking like some sort of weird 2-tone wood stain job. So that leaves me with trying to match the cherry plywood to look like the jatoba by some sort of stain. There is no Brazil cherry plywood that I have been able to find.

Has anybody ever tried to match these up or should I be thinking in another direction? Any tips could save me a lot of trial and error.

This is the hardest wood I have ever tried to work and my machinery is not up to the task of doing this in real panels. (Nor do I have the time and maybe not even the skill to do it.)

Oh yeah, the finish at this point for instance for drawer fronts which are solid Brazil cherry is simple oil based poly, then water based poly acrylic progressively sanded up to 400 grit. By then Im up to a beautiful, natural and smooth finish.

Thanks

 

[nelsone]

Your best bet may be to look for jatoba veneer and veneer your own panels. I doubt you'll be able to make cherry ply look like jatoba with any stain. I recommend either the veneer option or accentuate the different woods. I wouldn't stain either and put a natural finish on them.

 

[mlzettl]

I'll second what Ed recommended. Both of these woods change color considerably with time. I have worked with both extensively. Even if you were to achieve a good color match with stain, in all likelihood the color differences will become more evident down the road. Years ago I made a cherry side table, and stained it a deep, reddish brown using a water based aniline dye. It is now almost black. I am a big proponent of leaving cherry natural, as the amount of darkening that occurs with aging is significant.

Since you're doing a Shaker style frame and panel, veneering your own panels with Brazilian cherry (Jatoba) would be a very doable solution. Making your own panels out of solid jatoba isn't really too hard, although you would need to have resaw capability. You're right about the jatoba being hard - it is really dense, and requires sharp tools and powerful equipment to machine.

Hope this helps.

Matt

 

[Black Bart]

Thanks Nelson and MZL,

From what I understand, this wood is twice as hard as red oak. Originally, I meant to do this all in cherry but I got such a good deal on this Jatoba......maybe I should have stuck with the plan. Hmmm...

Unfortunately I do not have a re-saw unit. Dont know anybody that does. Plus this is 5/4 rough so I have a lot of room to re-saw.

I've never tried to do veneer before. A chance to learn a new skill and so what is the first thing I need to know?

I spent all day freezing in my garage :rotflm:and building drawers for the lower units. My wife was a big help! She jumps right in there with me. Mask, ear and eye protection. We have our own "language" on the way to read a tape measure.

Again, thanks. You've confirmed what I suspected all along.

 

[nelsone]

Veneering is pretty easy. I'd get some 1/4" baltic birch ply for your substrate. I use some cauls I made out of 2x's and a couple pieces of melamine for my platens. I have used white glue for applying the veneer. A vacuum system would be nice, but I can't afford one! I can shoot some pics if you'd like of what I use. Do a search for jatoba venner and you'll find plenty of options.

 

[mlzettl]

As long as the panels aren't too large, clamps and cauls will work just fine. The larger the panels, the more clamps you'll need, and the bigger the cauls need to be. Several panels can be glued up at once, as long as they are the same size. Use wax paper in between the panels if you glue up multiple panels at once. Be sure to put veneer on both sides of each panel, and use a quality glue. Don't be tempted to use contact cement. As Ed said, it's really not very difficult.

Matt