The color of Lyptus

[millwab]

Scrollers,
I was thinking about giving Lyptus a try sometime, but it wasn't readily available in small quantities near me. The most recent flyer from Woodcraft is advertising it and a call to my local store says it's about $4.50 bf with the discount.

It is supposed to have the color of cherry (or at least close to it). My question for those of you who have used it, is the color close enough to cherry to use along with cherry ply? I have a project in mind that would mix cherry ply panels with solid hardwood using an oil or clear finish of some sort. Any experienced advice would be appreciated. Thanx.

[Jediscroller]

Bruce,
I think by itself it is fairly distinguishable from cherry. The grain pattern is much closer to that of mahogany as well. I think it would stand out if used with the cherry ply. You may be able to find a stain to match the 2 pretty closely but I think the difference will show up even then over time.
That being said, it is one of my favorite woods to work with. It does seem to darken somewhat with age (similar to cherry).
To give you an idea of the difference, I've attached is a picture of both a cherry and a lyptus bud vase. The Lyptus is on the left while the cherry is on the right.

[workin for wood]

yea, it won't match, but it won't clash either. I built cabinet doors in the shop from pecan which is a very close color to lyptus and installed cherry plywood panels in them and they compliment each other well...but that's my opinion and my wife would say I don't know jack about picking colors.

[millwab]

Thanx guys. I try to stay away from 're-coloring' woods (stains, dyes, etc) because I'm "color-challenged." I wouldn't be able to see subtle differences in shades. That's why I prefer picking woods for their natural colors and using a clear finish.

I was going to use the lyptus for the body of the nite lites I make and use the cherry ply for the removable screens. So far I've always planned down solids to make the screens, but I was hoping the ply would still look good but give me a consistency of thickness from one to another. That way, if I'm asked to make an additional screen post delivery I wouldn't have to second guess the fit.

[will8989]

Well,Bruce, I don't know about anyone else, but I bought one board of Lyptus and will never ever buy it again. I thought I was sawing through rock!! The one basket I did make was beautiful but the board I had was such a close grain it wasn't worth all the effort and aggrivation. Hope you have better luck than me!! What is left will be used for shelves so it doesn't have to be cut with anything but a table saw!!

Betty