Replies

1. 
   Danceswithwoods | Jun 03, 2006 10:08am | #1

   I take it that you have not tried a "spit coat" of dewaxed shellac as a primer.  I'm working on a queen-sized bed made of birch currently and dyeing it a very dark color.  The wood is a witch to get an even color on and the spit coat (1 lb. cut) worked somewhat to help.  That was sanding to 320, applying the shellac, sanding again, and then applying the dye.  That was passable, but what I've found is that if I wipe the wood down with denatured alcohol after the second sanding, and then lightly sand again by hand, the color is coming out VERY evenly.  I know it sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but the finished product is well worth the effort.

2. 
   charlesstanford | Jun 03, 2006 04:37pm | #2

   At the end of the day, it's a paint-grade species or to be used, generally unfinished, as a secondary wood (drawer slips maybe, a runner here or there possibly - light duty, small(ish) drawers).

   
   

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   Edited 6/3/2006 6:52 pm ET by charlesstanford

3. 
   Dave45 | Jun 04, 2006 12:36am | #3

   Poplar is another of those woods that can be a major PITA to stain and finish.  It really isn't a great choice for stained/finished pieces and I mostly use it for paint grade projects.

   Being something of a contrarian, however, I actually like the look of some poplar.  Some of the colors can be pretty intense, but if you stick with the "whiter" boards you can get some nice looking stuff.

   These pictures are of a couple of poplar projects I've done this year.  Both are poplar with two coats of water based poly. No stain, just the poly.

   The mirror was for a customer who wasn't sure she even wanted wood.  She's always been into paint and only agreed to wood if I promised to paint it if she didn't like it.  When I delivered it, she (and her interior designer) fell in love with it.  They even threatened bodily injury when I offered to paint it - lol.  Since then, I've done two more pieces for her in birch (a china hutch and a hall table) and have an order for another piece.  She loves the look of poplar or birch with just a finish.

   The chair was a personal project that I did right after Xmas.  I've always wanted to build a chair, but my earlier attempts were pretty pathetic.  I had some poplar laying around and spent hours planning and cutting to get the joinery right.  The chair was assembled dry and is held together with trim screws.  I gave it two coats of oil based poly and it actually looks pretty nice.  It's been in the family room for six months and is holding up just fine.  Someday, I plan to take it apart, tweak some of the angles, and make one "for real".  I just may use poplar again.

   
4. 
   mrbird90 | Jun 04, 2006 03:46am | #4

   I have had the same experience with poplar & maple, so the last project I needed a dark maple stain so I went to a local cabinet shop and they sold me a quart of a commercial oil stain made by the Campbell Co. and it worked like a charm, the stain sunk into the wood just like a stain on oak. Now this was a commercial stain not for home use as it contained xylene, benzene, toluene, and a half dozen other toxic solvents. I used a face mask and had fans sucking the fumes outside. This same cabinet shop uses a commercial stain by Sherwin Williams Co.. and it works equally well on maple and poplar. There is no comparison between what is sold in retail stores versus the commercial stains. Can any finish experts out there shed some more light on the differences between commercial and retail stains.

5. 
   bigfootnampa | Jun 05, 2006 12:19am | #5

   Try using gel stains.  The extra body helps prevent blotchiness.  I will sometimes mix my gel stains with a tint base gel stain that has not been tinted to get even thicker body and lower saturation.  This is  a useful strategy with any wood that tends to stain with too much contrast.  I generally find that it will be easier to control and give a more satisfactory look than washcoating, though I sometimes use that strategy too.  It really helps to have some scraps from the same stock to test finish.