Cherry Spoons

I have a friend from worker who does ceramics on the side.  She does nice work, so I asked her to make me a set of 10 drinking cups.  She asked for cherry spoons.  Here are the spoons.  I will post pictures of the great cups she made when my camera cooperates.

This is the first time I have worked with cherry wood.  It is awfully pretty, but not quite as strong or predictable as maple.  The grain is more predictable in maple than in cherry.  The maple is harder, too, so the cherry was a lot easier to carve.

wet wood chemistry

I put three spoon blanks in the sink to soak and they made the water green! One walnut, one cherry, one maple. Cold water, soaking for 2 days. Here are some pictures to attempt to show you.

I do not know how it ended up green, as I have boiled and soaked these woods before. I don't think I ever put all three together, though. I wish I knew more about what is going on here.