Cherry wood will continue to darken for weeks.
Cherry wood is photo-reactive. The more it is exposed to light, the darker it gets. Some mills that produce cherry wood for furniture makers will steam the cherry, or age it by exposing it to natural light before selling it. Other mills will sell the cherry as is. It will come to the lumber yard as a light, reddish-amber color that will continue to darken. You can use cherry lumber as is when you buy it, but to get cherry lumber consistent, it should be aged in sunlight to mellow and darken it before you use it. Mellowing and darkening are essentially the same thing.
Instructions
1. Run your lumber through a wide-belt sander once on both sides with a 100-grit belt on the sander. The settings on the sander should be set to remove 1/32-inch of material from each side. You run both sides to dimension the lumber correctly, even though only one side is typically visible.
2. Lay the lumber out flat across two studs in bright sunlight if possible.
3. Select the best side of each piece and lay it facing up. Don't cover it. Leave the lumber to sit for not less than 72 hours.
4. Check the lumber. If not consistently darker, leave it out for one week.
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