Murph: Unless you choose a fairly perfectly colored piece of cherry, you're gonna get color variations that can run from cream to brown.
The best way to color it is with wood dyes, not stains.
If you want more info about dyes/stains, PM me.
Shellac will change the cherry (depending on the shellac's base color). It usually adds (amber) yellow, thus making cherry look orange (eeew).
I have made frames (and some none-too-simple ones) out of MDF. If you mud all the cut edges with a vinyl spackle (like Crackshot) and sand them before priming, you can achieve an amazingly seamless look that will never reveal itself as MDF. Then you can do black or whatever color you like. (Or just use poplar or maple instead of MDF and make your life easy.)
Coloring wood is more difficult than most woodworking projects.
i.e.: sand up to 180 grit; 1st dye (One color dye or stain usually doesn't look natural), sanding sealer, sand, stain or 2nd dye, sanding sealer, sand, 3 coats of wipe-on poly, steel wool and wax
(not Butchers or any floor wax). Viola! [sic]
MDF and paint is lookin' awfully good, now, eh?
Last edited by BobKay; 11/16/11 05:04 PM.
