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The degree cherry blotches depends on the wood or veneer, not on how a stain or finish is applied. The veneered cabinet door on the left didn’t blotch while the door on the right did, both with no stain applied.
Cherry is a beautiful and easy-to-work wood. But it is a problematic wood to finish because it has a tendency to blotch, even with just a finish applied – no stain.
Everyone working with cherry wants to know the “secret” for avoiding blotching in cherry, as if there is one that they just don’t know. The real secret about cherry blotching seems to be that there isn’t any way to avoid the blotching. If the cherry boards or veneer you are using include blotchy areas, you are going to get blotching.
The only way to avoid blotching is to use boards or veneer that don’t blotch, or cut out the blotchy areas from boards or veneer that do blotch.
You can test if the wood is going to blotch by wetting it. Be aware that using water will raise the grain, and using mineral spirits could cause leveling problems if you intend to use a water-based finish. Denatured alcohol won’t cause any problems and is fairly safe to work with, but it evaporates rapidly, so you need to be quick.
Blotching is not necessarily bad. It can be very beautiful. The curls in curly maple, for example, are blotching.
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