Cherry Wood Bowl — Warm Tones, Hand-Rubbed Finish
Started from an 8”x4” blank. Finished with Waterlox Original and wax.
Species: Cherry Dimensions: 8” x 4” Finish: Waterlox Original + paste wax
The Turning
Cherry is one of those species that’s pleasant from start to finish. It cuts cleanly with sharp tools, doesn’t have a lot of surprise tearout, and the shavings smell great. This blank came from a local source and had a nice straight grain with just a hint of figure toward the center.
I turned it wet — cherry moves a fair amount as it dries, but I’ve found that rough-turning and letting it dry before finishing produces a more interesting final shape than trying to fight the movement. After the blank dried for a few weeks, I remounted it, trued it up, and took it to final thickness.
Why Waterlox
Cherry is one of the woods that looks almost too plain under a film finish — the grain can get a plasticky sheen that flattens the color. Waterlox soaks in rather than sitting on top, which keeps the surface looking like wood. A couple of coats of paste wax over the top gives it a soft sheen and makes it food-safe for fruit or bread use.
Cherry Gets Better With Time
This is probably my favorite thing about cherry: it doesn’t stay the way it looks when it leaves the shop. Freshly turned, cherry is a pale pinkish tan. Over the following months, UV exposure deepens it into a warm amber and eventually a rich reddish-brown that most people associate with antique furniture. A bowl that looks modest fresh off the lathe can look genuinely beautiful a year later.
Explore More
Cherry is one of my favorite species to turn — it starts pale pink and deepens to a rich amber over months of use. Wood Species Guide: Cherry, Maple, Walnut & Ash →
The Waterlox finish on this piece is one of several oil-based options I use. Wood Bowl Finishes Explained → covers when I reach for Waterlox versus tung oil or Rubio Monocoat.
Browse all my cherry turning projects →
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