Walnut finish for poplar

cutoffcollector | Posted in Finishing on October 12, 2003 01:09am

I am ready to assemble a prototype sewing stand that I have designed. My wife loves to cross-stich and works on her projects every night while watching tv and the old sewing stand will not work with our new furniture. The new stand has casters and can be rolled off to the side when not in use. I’ve made the prototype out of poplar as it is easy to work and not that expensive in case my design doesn’t do the job,

I intend to make a finished stand out of black walnut if everything goes well with the prototype. I would like to put a walnut finish on the prototype rather than leaving it as is. I have some other projects that I would like to complete before Christmas and the prototype will be sitting in our living room until I finish a walnut sewing stand.

I’m more interested in achieving a walnut color more than trying to create the grain. Your comments and assistance will be appreciated.

Thanks, Jon

Replies

forestgirl | Oct 12, 2003 01:25am | #1
There have been 2 or 3 threads recently on staining poplar. If you do an Advanced Search on the words stain poplar I think you'll find quite a bit of info.

I could help you out if you'd used Alder -- Alder mimics other woods quite well, but I've never stained popular. More of a painting wood.

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

cutoffcollector | Oct 12, 2003 05:03pm | #3
forestgirl,

Thanks for the response. I had never used the advanced search option before and I got some good info from a thread back in July. I'm going to try powdered dye on some samples and see how it works.

Thanks again, Jon

Kevin | Oct 12, 2003 06:32am | #2
I agree with FG on Poplar being better suited to painting than staining. But, if it were me... I'd try a Minwax or Watco Walnut oil stain. Just about everyone out there in the DIY market has a "Walnut" stain of one type or another. Most every store that carries Minwax has color samples that should enable you to find a color that suits your needs. Typically the Minwax displays include small wood samples of both Pine and Oak to show how each stain color looks on those two species of wood. Poplar, being soft and all, will probably stain a lot more like the Pine samples than the Oak samples.

Regards,

Kevin

cutoffcollector | Oct 12, 2003 05:07pm | #4
Kevin,

Thank you for your response to my query regarding staining poplar. I'm going to try powdered dye first and if that doesn't work, I've got some dark walnut Watco oil.

Jon

goldhiller | Oct 13, 2003 04:02am | #5
Piece of cake. <g>

Poplar stains very unevenly as a rule, so other means are recommended.

Don't know your chosen finish for this piece, but here's a couple of basic general approach examples if it will be a film type finish.

Shoot a seal coat of shellac or nitro, followed by color coats of Mohawk's base concentrate mixed with nitro or cat lacquer. The ratio I frequently use for this is 10 parts lacquer to 1 part base concentrate.......+ whatever thinner is necessary to reach spray viscosity. Make sure to allow each coat to dry for a sufficient amount of time before building more to arrive at final color. Usually this blend takes about four wet coats. When color is reached, shoot two more coats of clear on top. Since walnut comes in all manner of shades and coloration variations, I'd suggest Mohawk's Vandyke brown right out of the can for a middle of the road, but yet nice warm tone. Done properly, this is a great look on poplar.

If you might want to use a different approach or use poly as the final finish on this piece, I'd shoot a seal coat of dewaxed shellac followed by the base concentrate carried only in lacquer thinner after the shellac is dry. You can build color coats rapidly this way to reach final tone as the thinner evaporates in short order. Ratio depends. It's easier to control if well diluted as that allows you to sneak up on the color slowly. Apply your poly or other finish over the top after letting the colorant to set for an hour or so.

If the color gets away from you and goes too deep, either is easy to remove, but.....then you start over. Consequently, I'd recommend that you practice on some scrap first.

I prefer the first general method as a rule because it adds more visual depth to the final appearance, but there are times I use the other. Depends.

If for some reason you'd like to carry the the color in multiple coats of poly, you'd want to use Mohawk's universal colorant product instead.

Downside to any of this is that a min. order at Mohawk Finishing Products is currently $85 + s&h.. A can of base concentrate is around $20, I think but goes a long, long way. Maybe there's a cabinet shop near you that would sell you a bit or let you toss your order on with theirs.

Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.

Edited 10/12/2003 9:08:32 PM ET by GOLDHILLER

cutoffcollector | Oct 13, 2003 04:32pm | #7
GOLDHILLER,

Thanks for your response and the good information, however I'm not equipped to spray finishes. I have a small shop in our house and now have time to improve my woodworking skills and knowledge since my retirement. I appreciate your sharing your knowledge and experience with me.

Jon

ron61 | Oct 13, 2003 05:45am | #6
Jon

You can stain Popular like Walnut -I've seen it and looks good -not sure how they did it

I think some one with experience doing this will post , I seen it on Knots might search gallery.

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