yellow colouring in cherry

[TomO]

Hello everybody, I have just picked up some cherry that has recently been milled for me. There is alot of nice looking grain which is nice. But there is alot of yellow colouring towards the outsides of the boards. Is this normal for cherry? Will it keep the colour when dried and planed up? I havent got a good photo of the grain yet just this pack.

this is about half of the timber, the other half is getting kiln dried.
thanks in advance, Tom

 

[Steve Maskery]

The yellow is the sapwood. It's not as attractive, is it?
It's not a flaw.
You can get steamed cherry and this is more uniform in colour, somehow they get the red colour to bleed into the sapwood.
S

 

[TomO]

I don't mind the look of sapwood generally, I haven't seen it as bright yellow as this before though. I think maybe its brighter because its recently felled and milled? i'm sure if used the right way it could look really good. I need inspiration!!

 

[Steve Maskery]

I need inspiration!!

Don't we all!

S

 

[Giff]

Tom, I think it will age down. I had some cherry trees felled and milled about a year ago and they are sticked and air drying and the "bright" yellow has softened quite a lot. Geoff

 

[Steve Maskery]

Yes, it will mellow, but it will always be an unwelcome contrast to the heartwood. And as cherry has become more popular over the last 20 years or so, they have been felling trees earlier and earlier, which means a greater percentage of the sapwood.
The best strategy is to keep the good side of the board to the outside and use the yellow side inside, or as a secondary timber.
S

 

[TomO]

I did a quick google search! I cant see much of this peice but what i can see I love the look of

 

[TomO]

Cheers for your input guys, the googling I have done has said the same thing, i.e that it will soften but remain visible. So I think I will try and make a feature of it.

This particular tree was well over 100 years old steve so there is a good thickness of both sap and heartwood (in places).