With the amount of cherry wood furniture in the market, it’s not hard to guess that these wood species are more popular than other hardwoods. And while it’s a widely domestic hardwood, some of its characteristics and growth may affect how you can utilize this material.
Join our resident woodworkers as they delve deeper into understanding this wood type to achieve its effective usage.
Cherry Timber Characteristics at a Glance
- Color: Pinkish to rich reddish brown
- Source: American Black Cherry Tree (Prunus Serotina)
- Janka hardness: 950 lbf or 4230 N
- Estimated cost: 3 to 10 dollars per board foot.
- Common uses: Fine wood furniture, kitchen cabinets, hardwood flooring, doors, boat interiors, musical instruments, joinery, tobacco pipes, and many more.
- Common name/s: Black Cherry, American Cherry, Wild Cherry, and Cabinet Cherry.
- Scientific name: Prunus Serotina
- Tree size: 50 to 100 feet (length), 3 to 5 feet (trunk diameter)
- Dried weight (average): 560 kg/m3
- Gravity specifics: 0.47, 0.56 (Basic, 12% Moisture Content/MCcherry wood)
- Rupture modulus: 84.8 MPa
- Elastic modulus: 10.3 GPa
- Crushing strength: 49 MPa
- Shrinkage: 3.7% (Radial Shrinkage), 7.1% (Tangential Shrinkage), 11.5% (Volumetric Shrinkage), and 1.9 (T/R Ratio Shrinkage).
What is Cherry Timber: Origin and Where it Grows
You can get this lumber type from an American black cherry tree. Besides being used for fine furniture, these plants produce tiny tart-like fruits after their ten-year growth. These components are later turned into products like jelly, jams, etc.
It’s easy to confuse the cherries produced by black cherry lumber trees as the sweet juicy fruits in the market, but they’re not. These small berries grow in clusters and don’t last a long period because birds and other frugivores can devour them easily.
Cherry trees are first seen in different parts of Mexico, especially the country’s east coast and middle western. Since it’s one of the most popular wood types, cherry trees are also common in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Typically, prunus serotina lumber is sourced in sustainably managed forests. More often than not, woodworkers can buy the most variations of these durable wood materials in parts of West Virginia and New York.
How Big Can a Cherry Tree Grow?
The growth of American cherry trees depends on their environment, aging process, and growing conditions. If nurtured properly, these solid hardwood species can grow as tall as 100 feet with a diameter of 4 feet.
You can tell if this rich red cherry lumber has reached the initial stages of maturity when its length grows around 50 to 80 ft tall and 2 to 4 ft wide in diameter.
Appearance: Color, Size, and Odor
Our team’s visual evaluation shows that cherry trees change color over time. Even if you get the wood materials from the same tree, its sapwood (tree’s bark) and heartwood will have different color ranges.
As previously mentioned, cherry trees can grow particularly high and mature in a shorter period than other solid hardwoods. And if you intend to use them as materials for kitchen cabinets, doors, or other fine furniture projects, know that they carry a mild wood scent.
Does the Cherry Timber’s Color Change Over Time?
Unlike pine, mahogany, and maple lumber options, cherry’s aging process does not include surface darkening. While it doesn’t change in a light tone like black walnut, these wood materials start in a golden-pinkish shade and darken to a reddish-brown color upon light exposure.
Cherry species will continue to darken as long as they’re exposed to light in the first six months of their growth. It’ll take several years before this durable lumber shows a rich red-brownish hue that made cherry furniture popular around the globe.
If you intend to get its popular reddish-brown shade, we advise exposing the tree to better light exposures as much as possible. Through this, cherry wood’s aging phase will accelerate.
Besides natural light, this wood specie’s color changes are also attributed to UV light and air exposures. These factors can lead to chemical reactions that introduce changes in the wood molecules and alters wood reflections on the material’s surface.
Texture & Grain Pattern
The main reasons cherry is considered a great material for fine furniture are its straight grain and smooth texture. Unlike oak, it has a closed wood grain with smaller wood pores. Thanks to this, its finished product can be smoother than lumber with open grains.
While most cherry lumber has a smooth texture and straight grain, you should expect contrasting qualities as its surface conditions may vary depending on its growth. Some cherry furniture and wood boards may include small gum pockets and brown streaks.
Endgrain Features
When you cut the cherry lumber, you’ll notice that it has a fine end grain. It cuts along the wood fiber’s direction, so you can keep your hand and power tools stable during the process. Here are the specific cherry end grain features you should know:
Porosity
The lumber porosity patterns range from semi-ring to diffuse-porous.
Arrangement
You’ll find consistent rows of solitary pores in the wood’s low-density part.
Vessels
Cherry lumber’s earlywood parts show medium to small vessels. However, you’ll observe smaller vessel diameters on the wood’s latewood.
Parenchyma
There’s no parenchyma visible on its wood surface.
Rays
Upon close inspection, cherry materials show moderate rays with normal spacing.
Substitutes
These wood pieces have light sapwood and dark heartwood, making them slightly similar to maple and birch. You can also opt for yellow poplar for making musical instruments, but you’ll need to have the wood stained to match colors with cherry’s heartwood.
Sapwood vs. Heartwood Grain
When you look at cutting boards and boat interiors made of cherry lumber, it’s not uncommon to see color variations. You may not know, but cherry has lighter-colored sapwood and darker heartwood.
While you can always have it stained, wood furniture and lumber enthusiasts focus more on darker-colored heartwood. However, it’s a no-brainer that some lumber pieces may include sapwood elements.
Is it Hardwood or Softwood?
Cherry lumber is harvested from prunus serotina, a tree specie under the hardwood category. Despite its occasional small gum pockets, these materials possess medium strength, shock resistance, and good bending properties.
And considering that it’s hardwood, you should know that this lumber has low stiffness.
How Dense/Hard is Cherry Timber (Janka Rating)
Our hands-on tests determined cherry lumber’s scratch, dent, and shock resistance. Its result in the Janka rating scale ranges around 995, which is close enough to the density of oak and ash and higher than alder and pine lumber.
Common Uses of Cherry Timber
Since cherry lumber has great shock resistance and low stiffness, it will work well with flooring projects and interior millwork. You can also count on it for making kitchen cabinets and other accessories.
Besides flooring, its hardwood characteristics are also desirable as panel and veneer materials. Cherry should also be durable enough to withstand joinery and woodturning.
Workability (Mechanical & Physical Properties)
As you know, cherry materials have straight grains. Thanks to this attribute, you can process them into manufacturing and milling machines without problems. The only issue with this lumber is when you put the stain on its surface.
We recommend applying sealers before the staining process or opting for a gel-based product to avoid blotching.
Durability/Rot-Resistance
This wood type has a very high durability rating on its heartwood. Although cherry is not highly recommended for exterior use, you can count on it to resist rotting and other harsh conditions.
Can You Leave Cherry Timber Pieces Outdoors?
While it’s true that this lumber can withstand rotting and other external damages, it has a higher chance of deteriorating when in contact with these elements regularly.
Even if you applied a wood finish over its surface, it wouldn’t change that cherry isn’t an outdoor material.
Toxicity
Materials harvested from cherry lumber aren’t toxic, but the sawdust they produce during usage can cause allergies if you’re not wearing proper safety gear.
Price and Availability
As previously mentioned, black cherry wood furniture is widely popular and available in the market. Because of this, it’s not surprising that this lumber is one of the most harvested wood materials.
Its price range may vary depending on quality. However, since black cherry is considered premium material in the furniture industry, expect them to be more expensive than others.
How to Spot Legit Cherry Timber
The downside of cherry lumber’s popularity is the wide usage of this term on products not made of the same material. Here’s how you can avoid buying them.
Cherry’s Black Specks
You’ll see black specks on a cherry tree’s wooden surface because it produces mineral deposits during its growth. Besides that, real cherry materials will have visible and natural pitch pockets.
Tip: Be Aware of Fake Cherry Timber
If you’re shopping online, always look for the keywords “real” or “natural” to reduce the chances of getting duped with fake cherry pieces.
Cherry Stains and Finishes
Our wood experts recommend clear oil finishes to preserve cherry lumber’s natural reddish-brown color. If not, you can also consider unique stains like driftwood, walnut, or autumn cherry.
Is Cherry Timber Eco-Friendly? Are the Trees Endangered?
These species are grown in different regions and close proximities, so it doesn’t leave massive carbon footprints like others.
How Cherry Timber Promotes Environmental Sustainability
It’s sought-after as an alternative to rainforest woods [1], helping to prevent the illegal harvesting of endangered plants and help sustain wildlife habitats.
Also Read: What is Paulownia Wood?
Conclusion
Since cherry lumber has good bending properties, shock resistance, and medium strength, it’s easy to rush into buying them straight from local hardware stores or online.
Our resident woodworkers recommend careful selection if you don’t want to end up with the wrong material. Nevertheless, we don’t doubt it’ll suit different projects you’ll need to tackle in the long run.
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