Replies

1. 
   DANL | Sep 26, 2004 10:58pm | #1

   If I were you, I would use dye to make the poplar red (red dye will also decrease the intensity of the green of the poplar, making it more brownish). I would then go over that with a nice stain that gave me the color I wanted (I suppose, starting with any stain called "mahogany"). I would test these dyes/stains on scraps before committing to the real thing. (I think poplar can be pretty absorbant, so either wet it first with the appropriate vehicle (alcohol for aclohol based dye, water for water based, etc.) or use retarder to slow the drying and help it absorb more evenly.) 

   Then I would use shellac as final coat--especially on the inside as it will seal it and you can eat shellac without harm. You sort of want a lot of somewhat conflicting results from one material, so I would give the outside a couple or thee coats of polyurethane, starting with a thinned coat of gloss, then an unthinned coat of gloss and ending with an unthinned coat of satin. That will give you durability but not look like plastic. If you decide to use shellac as a base coat, there are some nice deep colors you can get--using garnet shellac would give you a deep, rich look. Make sure it is unwaxed if you want to varnish over it!

1. 
   Biscardi | Sep 27, 2004 05:46am | #2

   Ther is a very old techneque for making lesser woods look like mahogany. They actually would paint a mahogany grain on with feathers and brushes. It was big in the early 1800s. the doors at Monticello are done this way.

   It is a very advanced technique- very much worth at least looking up.

   Frank

2. 
   robkelly | Sep 27, 2004 07:45am | #3

   I make a lot of mahogany furniture, and sometimes the back (for wall hanging pieces) is poplar. I have tried to stain the poplar to look like mahogany, but with no success.  The problem seems to be that the poplar is a lot more absorbant than themahogany, so it ends up very dark and with no grain showing. My advice is to sell the poplar breakfront, and use the plans to build one out of mahogany. If cost is important, use alder, which can be stained to look like mahogany.

3. 
   calvinhobbs | Sep 27, 2004 02:37pm | #4

   Michael,

   I have had success using water based aniline dyes to match poplar and mahogany.  The dye can be applied and then wiped off with a wet rag to tone down the intensity of the color if it absorbs too much.  Remember to wet the poplar and sand off the raised grain before starting to dye.

   Calvin