ahh, my specialty!!!

You will love the look once your done, but getting there is not easy, Cherry has natural tannins that make it get darker with age. You can accelerate the process of aging with Lye. It is dangerous to work with, so if you do it, be careful, wear gloves, a mask and eye protection.

You will need a spray bottle, or one of those garden type sprayer you pump up for a larger area. Fill it with a mixture of wter and lye, you will need to work out how much lye to use by testing the mixture on a peice of scrap cherry. Spray this mixture on the wood, let it set for a few minutes, and wipe it off with clean water. After it dries, see if it darkened enough for you. If not use more lye. Cherry is my favorite wood to work with for just that reason, I hate when cherry is stained, instead of naturally aged. One thing, dont let it dry, you want to make sure you put an even coating on, and kepp it damp until your ready to wipe it all off. After your satisfied with the color and it dries, finish it as you would any other floor, it might require a very light sanding first, but by hand only, not machine.

I would not recomend this technique... it is very dangerous.
1.) yoiu can get sick from the LYE.. not an option.
2.) Staining a cherry floor and saying it doesn't look good is personal opinion, not a fact.
3.) if you do not like the colors of conventional stains, try using an analine dye from W.D. Lockwood.. I use them more than solvent based stains anyway..
4.) If you let the lye sit too long it act like a giant pulle of Urine or panit stripper and discolor the floor, you may get green stains all over it or completely black out areas.. I'd avoid doing that. If that's what you want to do, go to disney world while your floors are being done by a professional that has the appropriate equipment and know how..
5.) choosing the finish is as important as choosing a suitable color Cherry looks great with a semigloss water base on it for a finish product..

Frank B

Or just purchase old cherry and have it milled to your specifications..my other 2 cents worth..

And as far as an ebonizing technique I've done this several times, but it looks best with Maple as a floor.. you need to start with an ebony analine dye.. call 610-940-5757 and ask for mike Glavin and tell him that you're interested in his ebonizing technique, he will hopefully be able to fax you the information regarding products that you'll need and a step by step procedure list...

Thats why I stated it is dangerous and to wear protection. It can be done to the flooring before installing it as well and can be done outside, since he wants it black although he is using the wrong material for this project, cherry can get very dark, but would still be red.

Thanks for all of the input. Much appreciated.