The Woods: American Black Cherry

Cherry is a wood workers dream wood.  It’s easy to work and machine, very stable, and finishes wonderfully smooth.  Most people think of cherry as being a deep red, as the commercial stain market and mass produced furniture have championed this idea for years.  In reality, after being cut, milled and finished, cherry turns a light golden brown color.  With exposure to UV (sunlight) this color will deepen over time to a darker brown with slight hints of reddish hues.

Cherry often features straight, uniform grain...sometimes with cathedral patterns present. Due to very small pores, the face grain of cherry can easily be finished to a glass smooth surface that has feels luxurious to touch. 

Despite all of these great features, Cherry hasn’t been a very popular wood in historical synth production.  Maybe it’s time to change that!  But, it’s worth noting that many synth manufactures are currently making wood sides from ash….that they stain to look like cherry!  Skip that, and go for the real deal!

Hardness:            950 lbf

Density:               35 lbs/ft3