Replies

1. 
   Napie | Aug 08, 2007 05:32am | #1

   Black Walnut husks crushed and soaked in ammonia, works great.

2. 
   frenchy | Aug 08, 2007 05:24pm | #2

   bbobo,

     brown stain might to the uninformed eye be thought of as walnut,  real walnut on the other hand has all sorts of colors, purples,reds,  black, brown, white, green, etc..

     What you are asking for is like asking what stone color is.. stones, walnut, marble, etc. cannot be faked..

3. 
   BoardmanWI | Aug 08, 2007 07:42pm | #3

   I tried staining some poplar just for the heck of it, and you really need to sand it very smooth - even like going to a 220 or 320 grit.  I only went to 120 and it shows all the sanding marks.  Poplar is relatively soft and it "frizzs" easily.  The frizzy stuff takes a stain darker than the smooth parts.  But the grain does look somewhat like walnut.

4. 
   Ronaway | Aug 09, 2007 03:35am | #4

   You can make it brown, but you can't make it look like walnut,

   Ron

   If you're too open minded your brains will fall out.
5. 
   joinerswork | Aug 09, 2007 04:55pm | #5

   bbobo,

   If you can't find walnut husks, try vanDyke crystals.  They used to be available from Garrett Wade, maybe other finishing suppliers.  Allegedly made from walnut hull extract. 

   Ray

6. 
   YesMaam27577 | Aug 09, 2007 05:28pm | #6

   Although you can make poplar a similar color, you won't be able to mimick the complex grain patterns.

   But maybe that is actually a blessing -- as it can be in the case of some furniture repairs. I was recently asked to repair the legs on a "walnut" dining table. They were not walnut, but poplar that had been colored brown.

   In such cases, I try to blend a stain and a varnish so that it is just a bit lighter than the piece. I spray that on, and wait for it ot dry. Usually a second coat is all that is needed to bring the colors together -- heavy or light coat depending on how far off I was the first time around.

   You'll need to make a number of tries on scrap to get the color right. As others have mentioned, walnut can sometimes have some purple and red in addition to the brown, and sometimes the reds are even a bit orange.

    

    

    

   Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.

7. 
   myoung | Aug 11, 2007 09:29am | #7

   It seems to me the price of wood for a project is small compared to the time spent building it. So whether one is building the piece for a customer or just for the fun of it, if you want to have it look like walnut, use walnut.

   Several years ago, a customer wanted me to build a piece for him using maple, and wanted a walnut finish on it. In my naivete, I went ahead and did it, spending countless hours getting the color right. It would have been cheaper to just use walnut.  ( Today, I would insist to the customer that we use walnut. )

   The upside of this experience, however was I greatly increased my understanding of stains and dyes.

   Malcolm
   http://www.shellacshack.com

8. 
   forestgirl | Aug 12, 2007 07:56am | #8

   If you want a good-looking substitute for walnut, use Alder.  It doesn't frizz as badly as poplar does, and can finish up quite nice in a walnut "color".  I made a sports jersey case just so, came out great.  Sorry, no pics, it's hanging in his condo. ;-)

   PS:  Definitely not as nice as the real thing though.   Love working with walnut.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

   
   

   ---

   Edited 8/12/2007 12:57 am by forestgirl

1. 
   dull tool | Aug 14, 2007 11:36pm | #10

   Butternut (Juglans cinera) is in the same family as Black Walnut (Juglandaceae) and when stained with a walnut stain will exhibit similar grain characteristicts to our beloved WALNUT.

1. 
   forestgirl | Aug 15, 2007 12:00am | #11

   I'll keep my eyes open -- don't know how often it shows up here in the Puget Sound area.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

9. 
   Westchester | Aug 14, 2007 08:46pm | #9

   You may have to shoot a little color combined with finish through your spray gun.

   SA