Smallbore, there's no red oil in this stock--there is no stain whatsoever in it, just the finish, both of which are tung-oil based. Chuck, I've used a lot of cherry in other woodworking projects, and that's kind of what I'm refering to, as the wood itself gets much darker after prolonged exposure to sunlight no matter what finish is used.
Whether it's the wood or the finish changing color I'm not worried as I just duplicated the exact same finish on the exposed portion so whatever the agent of change is, in a year or two it will have blended back in quite well I think...but I still am very curious about what exactly was the agent of change in the color, the wood itself or the finish.
I find it interesting that you guys said walnut gets lighter with age, because in this case the freshly exposed wood was noticeably lighter than the older wood. Does that mean that you guys think it is likely the finish that has changed color, not the wood itself?
