Finishing poplar

[Chuck M]

On the woodsmith shop tv show they finished poplar and it looked a lot like walnut. Got any tips on how to do that? I haven't been able to find that show information.

 

I am wanting to build a quilt rack for a Christmas gift and building it from oak puts it higher than the budget for the gift.  Poplar and pine are the other wood choices for the big blue store.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Chuck

[Mike McGuire]

Chuck, there is a similar discussion on this topic here.

There are lots of different shades of stain available out there and Pine usually works well with most. Minwax has a couple of shades of Walnut available.

That's what I would do...

[Gary roofner]

The show stated the mixed gel stains to get the color.

[Pete Ticknor]

Before staining the whole piece check to see that a scrape piece will take the stain evenly. Poplar will not stain evenly due the wood structure. I have heard if this the case use brown fabric dye or stain conditioner to even out the wood. Then use the dark stain of your choice. I have use gel stain on a candle holder with good results but this was a light staining to enhance the grain. I found the website below that explains finishing poplar.
woodworking.about.com/od/typesofwood/p/Poplar.htm

[justin waldron]

With Poplar/pine/cherry/maple I always use 2 wash coats of shellac before staining. Lightly sand in between each coat of Shellac and it stains more evenly. The Shellac fills the open pores of the wood and the stain applies with a more even look. A good quality gel stain is something to look into as well, General Finish makes the best gel stain that I have used.

[Joseph E. Esquivel]

Oak is costly try looking at the prices on the per foot equivalence pull out the old calculator and use some basic math per foot; some times you can find buying longer or wider footage than rip to needed sizes and run on planer joiner to size required. Poplar to me is okay but seems to have a gastly green hue and the grain doesn't have the same feel or look as Oak. Also try pricing Birch at Home Depot and I've found hard woods labeled overseas hardwood clean no knots smooth and actualy bland looked like a blank sheet with grain texture. Just unknown or named not know by our standereds.

Joseph

[Jens Jensen]

Watco has a Dark Walnut that is gorgeous
I have used it on both hard and softwood

Mike McGuire said:

Chuck, there is a similar discussion on this topic here.

There are lots of different shades of stain available out there and Pine usually works well with most. Minwax has a couple of shades of Walnut available.

That's what I would do...

[Chuck M]

Joseph E. Esquivel said:

Also try pricing Birch at Home Depot and I've found hard woods labeled overseas hardwood clean no knots smooth and actualy bland looked like a blank sheet with grain texture. Just unknown or named not know by our standereds.

Joseph

Closest HD is 50 miles away.

[Chuck M]

I had googled finishing poplar, and not found what I was looking for. For some reason "Staining" didn't come to mind.

Robert Melrose said:

I was being sarcastic. I love this site it is a place to go when you can't find the answers to questions specifically about the Kreg jig. A 2 minute google search or you tube will give you all the information you need. Charles Neil does a whole video about staining and dying Poplar and it took far less time to find than starting a thread here and waiting for replies. I have also found people posting the same questions over and over again on this site without taking the time to do a search of the forum.

[David J. Drahmann]

Reality is that you have to be very careful which pieces of poplar you start with. varying shades of taupe/green/blonde wood as you know can turn out funky when staining. So start with boards with uniform color and you will get a uniform result. Honestly I've become pretty adept at doing some faux woodgrain type details with stain so it does not really matter what the underlying grain looks like. someone below makes the point that you need to prepare/prepare/prepare and remember that finishing is a process of building a finish, not applying one if that makes sense.

Totally agree that the english walnut looks awesome on poplar. stay away from the lighter shades unless you have found a lot of blonde boards (they can be had but you have to be picky).

Lastly - when you build with any wood - remember that you select face-frame material with an eye towards what looks best finished - be very selective with that wood and you will like the result.

Because poplar is a softer wood, careful with the heavy-grit sandpaper unless you like a fuzzy finish!

[ray vile]

chuck, I normaly use minwax products, and i find them easy to use and i think i get pretty good results., but if you go to minwax.com there is a forum section that should be able to answer anything you want to know. check it out very informitive