Finishing Poplar

[Mike Wilkins]

Restoring a drop leaf table for a customer. At firs glance the table appeared to be a cherry wood before the finish was removed. Only to find out it was stained poplar. Customer wants to go back with a brown-looking stain to match other pieces in the home.
My question is whether or not a pre-stain conditioner is needed before staining or just slop it on. I usually use Minwax oil based stains like I have for years. Unfortunately I can't experiment on parts of the table like I would when building from scratch.
Thanks in advance. Turn on the AC; its hot in here.

 

[Grgramps]

Mike,
How about the underside of the table top?
Roy

 

[DaveO]

I would say to use a pre-stain conditioner or a shellac seal coat, as Poplar is prone to blotching. I stained one Poplar piece once, with Minwax conditioner, and still got blotching. So I have never stained Poplar again, so my advice doesn't come with much background. I hope those few who have had successful experiences staining Poplar will give up their secrets ( I'll still only paint Poplar nonetheless).
Dave

 

[Steve D]

I spray anyline dye with good results but you can prevent blotching with conditioner or a seal coat of shellac then use a gel stain, another seal coat of shellac and topcoat with your desired finish.

 

[jbrewer]

I recently stained a bunch of poplar and had fairly good success with the conditioner. I did not have any blotching - the only thing that I didn't like was the greenish color that came through the stain in some places. From what I read online, that is somewhat normal for poplar. The previous post suggested a dye - haven't tried that but it seems to be recommended when staining poplar to aid in getting the even color you desire. Good luck!

 

[dozer]

I have used gel stains quite a bit for staining poplar with good success.

 

[chris99z71]

Someone else needs to chime in here that knows more about this than I do (ie: someone who knows ANYTHING about this...), but a very wise man told me (during a cabinet making class) that tinted lacquer is the way to go with woods that don't absorb stain predictably. Can anyone second this?

 

[Steve D]

Tinted Lacquer (ie shading & toning) can be a great way to go for a lot of finishes and to blend heart & sapwood, etc. but is is a spray technique and generally does not give very good results with wiping or brushing.

 

[jeff...]

Personally - I don't stain wood at all. I'll lay down a few clear coats, touch up and color match with a coat or two of toner, then top off with a few more clear coats. It's best to spray, brushing an entire surface with a toner doesn't seem work very well at all. Just remember to try and build up with light toner coats, else you'll get a "muddy" effect.

Wanted to add - if your just getting started, a color wheel might help match colors. http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/catalog_browse.asp?ictNbr=185

And heres is a link to tint concentrates http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/catalog_browse.asp?ictNbr=182 . I've had 1 quart of some of these for several years, since so little is used, they seem to last long time.

I would think you would want to mix up some burnt sienna and dark van dyke brown to get that "cherry brown" tone your looking for. If your not into mixing your own toner. You can by Cherry Borwn pre mixed laquer in a spray can. The spary can is good for touch up's but for an entire piece I would mix my own and load it in to a spray gun.

Heres a color chart of the products availible from Mohawk. http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/mhk_cds/color_chart/Mohawk%20Color%20Chart%20-%20no%20cover%2011-05.pdf


Just my 2 cents...

Thanks

 

[Ray Martin]

I recently stained a bunch of poplar and had fairly good success with the conditioner. I did not have any blotching - the only thing that I didn't like was the greenish color that came through the stain in some places. From what I read online, that is somewhat normal for poplar. The previous post suggested a dye - haven't tried that but it seems to be recommended when staining poplar to aid in getting the even color you desire. Good luck!

I just read an article in one of the woodworking monthlies. The suggestion for poplar's green parts was bleach.

Ray

 

[jbrewer]

Quote:
Originally Posted by jbrewer
I recently stained a bunch of poplar and had fairly good success with the conditioner. I did not have any blotching - the only thing that I didn't like was the greenish color that came through the stain in some places. From what I read online, that is somewhat normal for poplar. The previous post suggested a dye - haven't tried that but it seems to be recommended when staining poplar to aid in getting the even color you desire. Good luck!


I just read an article in one of the woodworking monthlies. The suggestion for poplar's green parts was bleach.

Ray
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I had read that somewhere as well - I was too afraid to give it a try

 

[Ray Martin]

John,

You can always go to the local BORG and pick up a small piece of poplar for experiments. They are bound to have some multi-color poplar. While that is not the ideal test, since it's not the wood you will actually be refinishing, it should give you an idea of how the bleach works on poplar green.

Ray

 

[walnutjerry]

Mike-------I have used a water soluble dye on poplar and after it dried used a penetrating oil stain (minwax) and top coat of oil/urethane mixture. Got a good even color that allowed grain pattern to show. I was not trying to match anything though.

Just my experience with staining poplar.

Jerry