Hello,
I’m a fairly new woodworker and I bought a ton of Poplar (they were on sale at homedepot for 40% off for a relocation sale so I bought almost all of it) so I’ve been building several things… coffee tables, cabinets, etc. I have been painting all of them but I decided to try staining a dresser I recently made. Luckily, I tried it on several large scrap pieces and some of it looked really ugly, nothing like the can. It was blotchy and the stain was uneven. I started subscribing to Finewoodworking recently and from what I read, Poplar is mainly used as a secondary wood. Is this why? Is there anything I can do to get a good finish on it? I wanted to stain it a dark color to match the rest of the furniture in my bedroom so a clear/semi-clear finish like shellac won’t work.
Thank you.
-Carl
Replies
Carl,
Welcome to the world of finishing. It can be fun and frustrating at the same time.
Poplar is used as a paint grade wood because of it's tight grain and smooth texture.
Staining it can be interesting. If you were finding you're batch of wood quite blotchy there is a reasonably easy fix for that.
Since you are new to finishing, let's keep it simple.
Be sure and sand your surface properly. For me that would be to 180 grit but you can go as high as 220 if you'd like.
There are products called stain conditioners. These will help control the blotching you are seeing. Basically, there are hard and soft spots throughout the surface of the wood. The soft spots will drink in more stain giving you that uneven color. The conditioner will slightly seal the surface. The stain will then take in a more uniform fashion. Just follow the directions.
Consider using a gel stain over the conditioned surface. They will enable you to get a more even color in this case.
Shellac is a clear finish and can be used over anything. By putting a clear coat over a dark stain you create depth. You may consider one of the wipe on poly's also.
Personally I don't use them, but they can be applied very easily. If you are just getting you feet, and hands, wet with finishing, they are just about foolproof to use.
Take some time and READ. There are a number of finishing books out there. They will be an invaluable source of knowledge.
As you progress you will find one inescapable fact about finishing. For every opinion or idea you get, ten will tell you why it's completely wrong.
Read, learn and practice. It will be time very well spent.
Keep me posted on your progress.
Peter
Thank you Peter,
I have a couple wood working books but they don't tell me much about Finishing. They just gloss over the basics. They don't even mention conditioners. But I'll have a look at some of the Taunton books.
I went up to 220 grit when I sanded. I used a random orbit sander on the large areas and sand paper on the details. I see a couple articles on the Fine Wood Working website about scrapers. In what cases do you use scrapers?
I actually went to Home Depot yesterday and the salesman told me to use conditioner as well so I did try it on several pieces of scrap. I applied the stain this morning and it looks much better but two of the scraps were still off so I think I will have to put two coats of conditoner on.
Thank you for your help,
-Carl
It looks like you need two coats of conditioner for Poplar. I got a nice even stain this morning when I tried it on 5 scrap pieces.
Thank for your help,
Carl
Hi Carl,
You just experienced one of the most important, and often overlooked, steps in finishing; making samples. Good for you.
Let me know how it comes out.
Peter
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