Q: I am currently making two cherry bookshelves using combination of solid cherry and cherry plywood. Will the plywood deepen in color at the same rate as the solid wood?

Carol Reed: My experience with this combination is that the solid wood deepens more than the plywood. It does take some time and depending on the lighting in the room, you may not notice. My theory is that the veneer on the plywood is so thin that fewer cherry wood cells are exposed so the color can deepen.

Lee Grindinger: Check it. Put a piece of your solid and a piece of your veneer in the sun for a few days. The problem with matches like this is that often the veneer logs came from a different geographical area than the solids and growing conditions have an enormous impact on the color of cherry. In other words, sometimes the veneer will match perfectly, sometimes they will look like different species.