Best use for cherry lumber?

[Wlmedley]

I've pretty well got all the logs I had laying around sawed up,stacked and stickered. All I have left is three cherry logs that my neighbor brought me a few months ago. Two are 8' and one 6'. They don't look like much and I think I'd be ahead to cut them into 4' lengths being they are pretty crooked. I've never had anyone ask for cherry lumber and I have a small amount that's been in my shed for a couple years so it's probably as dry as I'm going to get it. Just wondering what it's mostly used for so I'll know how thick to cut it. I don't really think that the wood is especially pretty but I guess some people do. The little bit that I have I cut 3/4" thick but I don't know what my reasoning was. It did dry flat and didn't split badly but would probably be to thin for making any sort of furniture.

[TreefarmerNN]

Cherry makes really pretty tables and other furniture.  It's also nice when turned.  I would go at least 4/4 or thicker to allow room for it to be planed.  The 3/4 you already have would be good for smaller parts of furniture. 

If you don't use it yourself, then check around for furniture craftsmen and see if you get any interest.

[Magicman]

I have had customers use Cherry for wall paneling, door casing/facing.  I know of two front entrances that used (my) Cherry exclusively which included facing out the two side windows as well as the door.

Tables and also various cabinets always turn out well especially if they have raised panel doors.  Mantels.

There is no commercial logging/sawmill value for Cherry nor ERC here.

[Larry]

I get a few calls for cherry lumber and it usually goes to craftsmen making smaller items. Its a slow mover and doesn't sell for a lot.

As a furniture maker and craftsman I love working with it. It is my favorite wood to use. I make all kinds of boxes, turned items, and furniture. The stuff sells quick and for high dollars.

A few of the things I've made.







Right now shaker candle stands and anything MCM (mid century modern) are hot sellers. I make lots of the candle stands.

When I was looking for cherry projects in my gallery I noticed I had 800 pictures in my woodworking section with a bunch more items made from cherry.

As MM just mentioned not much value in cherry logs which is great for me as I sometimes buy logs from a local commercial sawmill.

[Wlmedley]

Larry,that's some nice stuff. I'll probably never get to that level of craftsmanship but I still enjoy making some things. What little bit of cherry I've used it seems to be a brittle wood. I ran a couple pieces through my planer and it came out smooth but it does seem to split easier than oak or walnut when using screws which a true craftsman wouldn't be using anyway. I do think it looks the best when used in combination with another type of wood.

[Wlmedley]

I did make a couple cutting boards quite a while back and used a strip of cherry between to pieces of walnut that turned out pretty good. It did glue up good but cherry by itself wouldn't have looked very good in my opinion.

[Ianab]

The contrast is what makes those boards. If they were all walnut, or all cherry they would be "plain". 

Not sure who you are selling to, but shorts of "odd ball" species can be marketed to local woodworkers. Probably no one has asked for it because it's not a common species on your area, and they don't know you have any. It's a recognised furniture wood, but an "exotic import" in my part of the world. 

Would "Make your own cutting board" kits with a couple of walnut / cherry / maple etc planks sell? 

[Machinebuilder]

I really like cherry. I like the look even more after it's had a few years to darken into a deep red.

I find it relativly easy to carve spoons etc from. It stays flat. it contrasts nicely in a glue up.

It is definately more of a furniture wood.

I would cut 4/4 or 5/4 to be the most useful.  

[SawyerTed]

My son is a wood turner.   His solid cherry bowls fetch hundreds of dollars.  His laminated bowls often bring $200 or more.  Platters, candle sticks, vases all from cherry seem to be very desirable.  

When I'm on a sawmill job with any cherry around I inquire about cut offs, stumps and tops.  I get a lot of nice cherry for him that way.  

I like furniture built from cherry.  I built a cedar lined cherry blanket chest for Emily many years ago.  We still love it.  Our bedroom furniture is cherry.  

Cherry smoked chicken is awesome.   

Oh and it's a favorite to saw.  It's harder than poplar but not much.  It's mostly uniform density as well.  

[Magicman]

Here is a topic where I replaced a Cherry deck, but there are other interesting replies:  Replacing Cherry Deck

That deck lasted 10 years fully exposed to the weather but it was a bad idea.

Make some Forum searches for Cherry.

[YellowHammer]

Cherry is well up in our lumber core species, or "Top Seller" list, right up with red oak, maple, poplar, and walnut.  Sometimes I can't get enough logs to keep up with demand, and even have to get lumber trucked in from other sources, such as Pennsylvania.

It is generally used for any "formal or elegant" style furniture, where oak and similar species are not considered worthy or too rustic.  It is very easy to work, it planes smooth as glass if it is not over dried, and fills the color niche between maple (too white), walnut (too dark and expensive) and oak (meh, yuck, Home Depot wood). 

When cherry gets older it darkens to a rich color, and looks very elegant.  Looking at the projects that people have posted, yeah, they look great, and yeah, that is cherry!  It makes beautiful stuff.  We sell it in 8/4 stock for tables and chairs, and 4/4 for smaller and more elegant stuff.  We sometimes get "curly" cherry logs which has an incredible figure.

We sold so much cherry this last weekend, (we have 56 different species), the customers picked our racks mostly clean, and I had to break out a new pallet of it, put it on the apron, and sold maybe 1/3 rd of that pallet, in one day, at $8 per bdft!  That's for zero sap, zero defect, zero bow lumber, and that ain't a bad day selling cherry.   

Anyway, cherry logs have a tremendous amount of stress, and the ones you show most certainly will, I would expect, have some, because they are a little "not straight" but you never know until you get into them.  I have several video on how I mill it to get straight boards.

It's kind of hard to advise what thickness to saw it, it is used for so much different stuff, for everything form turning block to cutting boards, to chairs to tables to picture frames, to sewing machine tops, kids toys (it's food safe) and all kinds of other stuff.  On the other hand, if you don't have a local market, then who knows?