This week’s featured sustainable hardwood:
Cherry (Black Cherry)
The black cherry tree is native to eastern North America. It is also known as a wild cherry or wild rum cherry tree. One of the largest cherry trees, the black cherry tree can grow to heights of fifty to eighty feet with a mature spread of twenty to fifty feet. Like all fruit trees, cherry belongs to the rose family. American Colonists used all of the Black Cherry trees attributes, like its inedible fruits and bark, to make medicines and to flavor certain cordials, such as ‘Cherry Bounce’. The body of the tree was (and still is) used for fine home furnishings such as, cabinets, tables, beds, dressers etc. Cherry is easy to machine, nails and glues well, and when sanded and finished, it produces a truly beautiful finish. Cherry dries fairly quickly with a fair amount of shrinkage and will remain somewhat dimensionally stable after kiln drying. However, it will swell or shrink depending on the level of humidity present in the air; therefore, we as designers/manufacturers need to accommodate for the possibility of movement.
Wood is very sensitive to changes in relative humidity. As the weather changes, so does the relative humidity in your home and in the moisture content of the wood in your furniture. This means that furniture is constantly expanding and contracting. Wood does best in moderate conditions of around 70 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of about 50 – 55 percent. That means using a humidifier in winter and an air conditioner in summer. Furniture ages more quickly if stored in a basement, attic, garage or warehouse. Excess heat and dryness can cause wood to split and crack. Place furniture away from all heat sources, if possible. If you must put furniture near an air duct, use a shield or guard plate to direct heat away.
The heartwood of cherry varies from rich red to reddish brown and will darken with age. Cherry is also photosensitive, meaning prolonged exposure to sunlight can quickly deepen the color of the wood. Take care, as not to leave an object on a surface for prolonged periods when exposed to direct light.
In contrast to the inner layers, the outer sapwood is creamy white. The wood normally has a fine uniform, straight grain, satiny, smooth texture and may naturally contain character enhancing, curls and mineral pockets. Each piece of wood is unique and as such the natural color or grain variations will cause the wood to react differently to finish. It is common to find several contrasts in the same piece of furniture. The lighter pieces were closer to the tree’s bark, the darker pieces were closer to the tree’s center.
All in all, this wood is a brilliant material with exceptional workability and finished appeal. There are many examples of this (and other hardwoods that will be touched on in later posts) in our Lyndon website. http://www.lyndon.com/
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