Official Luthiers Forum!

In carving this cherry neck I ran into a sap pocket or something... I'm hoping I will carve past it. I've got a ways to go yet. I'm at 1.200" Shooting for about 0.830" This is my first cherry neck. I like the way it carves. Any ideas to deal with this spot if I don't carve through it?

_________________
Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

That is part of cherry's charm. As it is now, I don't think it would look bad once it has finish on it and the color darkens a bit. But I like the look of cherry and am not as fearful of color/grain imperfections as some are.

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I'm with Bryan. Kinda comes with the territory.

_________________
Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Put a piece of cherry in direct sunlight for a day, and it will oxidize to a darker colour, with a bit of a grey hue. Under finish it will darken even more. This might be an easy way to even the colour of the neck without having to use stain.
The oxidation goes fairly deep, so sanding it out is very difficult, so only do it if you are sure!

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

dark cherry water based gel stain sand w 320 , thenseal with redddish coloured shellac e.g. siam or kusmi??

1+. the dye/stain will cover it. I have done similar.

I am with it is part of Cherry's charm. Reminds us wood comes from a tree.

Years ago when I was a interior finish carpenter. If the woodwork was cherry with little or no stain we would cover the wood with drop cloths to keep UV’s off the wood.
It only takes a couple days exposure for the cherry to darken dramatically. If we did not cover it we would get lines not unlike sticker lines from a wood kiln. Pitch pockets etc. are part of the “charm” of cherry wood. I personally like it. Consider a dye or stain, as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
"It is easier to fool a man, than it is to convince him that he has been fooled"
Mark Twain

I'm not a big fan of dye stains.

A good way to speed up the natural darkening of cherry is to wipe it down with a mild lye solution. It works best if you make your own from hardwood ash. You want to use a low concentration; it should just feel 'soapy'. If you want it darker you can use multiple coats.

Personally, on that neck I would not bother any sort of staining; use it as it is.

I learned the hard way. I was building a cherry Secretary desk many years ago, and left a bunch of dimensioned parts piled willy nilly on my table saw, right beside the window. I ended up having to make all new replacement pieces because of the shadowing.

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I kept carving and I carved through the sap pocket... situation resolved...

I'm likin' the cherry. Carves nicely. It should look really nice with the cocobolo fingerboard on this one.

_________________
Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Thanks for posting this Steve.
I have a lot of cherry boards that I plan to use for necks in the future; nice to have this tidbit.

_________________
Wake up and smell the rosewood!