Making the sister in law a coffe table based on one she saw at Crate
and Barrel. It's dyed or stained a deep dark brown, almost black. I
built mine from poplar, sanded, sealed with shellac and stained it
with Minwax Jacobean. Disaster. Muddy tone and blotchy, despite the
spit coat prep.
What do I do now? Is there some kind of film finish that I can put
over the stain and that will still reveal grain? How about glaze or
gel stain?
I would if you have done so remove finish coat meaning shellac, laq, or
whatever if its on there. Then you have two choices 1.) Resand to bare wood
or as close as possible. Then coat with a wood conditioner and apply a
pigmented base stain such as those available from Old Masters, allow to dry
only slightly and wipe with a soft cloth lightly. Recoat again and wipe.
Continue until desired color or chroma is obtained. 2.) If you do not want
to resand to bare wood then sand down blotchy areas and apply stain
conditioner on wood, and apply a pigmented stain as mentioned above. Use a
clear non-yellow finish sealer.
Good Luck!
"JP" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Making the sister in law a coffe table based on one she saw at Crate
> and Barrel. It's dyed or stained a deep dark brown, almost black. I
> built mine from poplar, sanded, sealed with shellac and stained it
> with Minwax Jacobean. Disaster. Muddy tone and blotchy, despite the
> spit coat prep.
>
> What do I do now? Is there some kind of film finish that I can put
> over the stain and that will still reveal grain? How about glaze or
> gel stain?
"Tom Watson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 3 Sep 2003 08:15:33 -0700, [email protected] (JP) wrote:
>
> >Making the sister in law a coffe table based on one she saw at Crate
> >and Barrel. It's dyed or stained a deep dark brown, almost black. I
> >built mine from poplar, sanded, sealed with shellac and stained it
> >with Minwax Jacobean. Disaster. Muddy tone and blotchy, despite the
> >spit coat prep.
> >
> >What do I do now? Is there some kind of film finish that I can put
> >over the stain and that will still reveal grain? How about glaze or
> >gel stain?
>
> If you are set up to spray finishes you could use Transtint dyes in
> your color coats as a toner. This will even out the blotches.
>
> The best thing to do would be to take the butched finish down as far
> as you can and then re-build the finish using the toner.
Tom, was sealing it with shellac part of the problem? I've always heard that
for ultra-dark colors you need to treat the raw wood.
-- Ernie
HEY! We have something almost in common. I'm trying to match a table from
Pier 1 that is deep dark brown almost black.
I found that 1 coat of minwax mahogany oil stain left on to dry (dont wipe
off) and 4 coats of miniwax bombay mahogany polyshade will get a deep dark
wood with suttle red highlights. The polyshade lets you get deep dark colors
and the prestain+polyshade combo gets rid of any blotching and adds depth.
If you don't want the red highlights you can use walnut polyshade.
Sam
"JP" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Making the sister in law a coffe table based on one she saw at Crate
> and Barrel. It's dyed or stained a deep dark brown, almost black. I
> built mine from poplar, sanded, sealed with shellac and stained it
> with Minwax Jacobean. Disaster. Muddy tone and blotchy, despite the
> spit coat prep.
>
> What do I do now? Is there some kind of film finish that I can put
> over the stain and that will still reveal grain? How about glaze or
> gel stain?
Silvan wrote:
> By "cheap wood" I mean the stuff Lowe's calls "poplar." I have no idea if
> it's true poplar or the pseudo "tulip" poplar. Whatever it is, it takes
> el-cheapo Minwhacks just fine. Looks just like almost sort of walnut.
If it's cheap and/or available at Lowe's, they call it yellow poplar.
It is frequently called 'tulipwood' (Liriodendron tulipifera) -- it's
not even in the poplar family...it's in the magnolia family, IIRC.
Anyway, it generally takes stains fairly well (IME), but there is no
need to seal it prior to finishing...especially if you're going for
a very dark look.
--
************************************
Chris Merrill
[email protected]
(remove the ZZZ to contact me)
************************************
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Chris Merrill wrote:
>
> > If it's cheap and/or available at Lowe's, they call it yellow poplar.
> > It is frequently called 'tulipwood' (Liriodendron tulipifera) -- it's
> > not even in the poplar family...it's in the magnolia family, IIRC.
The tree is called a Tulip Tree, sometimes called a Tulip Poplar. The
wood is usually just called poplar or tulip poplar. There is a S. American
hardwood called 'tulipwood', I've no idea what the tree _it_ comes from
is called.
>
> That's right, the magnolia family. That's what I think of as "poplar" due
> to exposure. I have no idea what a real poplar looks like,
They look a lot like Aspen. Just how much they look like aspen will
depend of where they are growing and how familiar you are with both
aspen and poplar.
> or what wood
> from one looks like either,
I _think_ that wood from the true poplars is a lot like aspen and
can be sold as aspen under the groupings approved by the AHLA.
Cottonwood is similar in apperance, but softer.
Again, similarity will depend on your familiarity. I've heard folks
say that hickory or birch looks like oak. Not to me.
> since evidently the Lowe's stuff does come from
> the "tuip tree" like I suspected. (They grow in abundance in these parts.)
>
> > Anyway, it generally takes stains fairly well (IME), but there is no
> > need to seal it prior to finishing...especially if you're going for
> > a very dark look.
>
> Oh, I agree, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise.
I've heard that poplar (from the tulip tree) has a lot of regional
variation in how well it takes stain. It pretty much all takes
paint well.
--
FF
You got "tulip poplar" or real poplar? Real poplar has interlocked grain,
so there's never a consistent pattern of stain absorption. On the other
hand, if you put a clear finish over the existing stain, you'll get some
lovely pattern.
If not, use something in the stain/varnish line to even the color, though
you'll lose the pattern.
"JP" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Making the sister in law a coffe table based on one she saw at Crate
> and Barrel. It's dyed or stained a deep dark brown, almost black. I
> built mine from poplar, sanded, sealed with shellac and stained it
> with Minwax Jacobean. Disaster. Muddy tone and blotchy, despite the
> spit coat prep.
>
> What do I do now? Is there some kind of film finish that I can put
> over the stain and that will still reveal grain? How about glaze or
> gel stain?
Silvan wrote:
> That's right, the magnolia family. That's what I think of as "poplar" due
> to exposure. I have no idea what a real poplar looks like, or what wood
> from one looks like either, since evidently the Lowe's stuff does come from
> the "tuip tree" like I suspected. (They grow in abundance in these parts.)
You must be out east...with me (NC). I've got a dozen or so 60+ft tulips on
my lot...one died last year and I'm considering dropping it and having it
milled. It's straight for the first 35 feet...and nearly 24" dia near the
base. Would be good stuff for shop cabinets, furniture internals, drawer
sides, etc.
--
************************************
Chris Merrill
[email protected]
(remove the ZZZ to contact me)
************************************
I just got though staining a batch or poplar last night to match mahogany.
Raw wood, used a mixture of 1unit oil based stain to 2 units of mineral
spirits. Allow the stain to soak into the wood for several min. and then
drain off excess (or wipe off for larger items) allow to set for several min
and then wipe dry. I have sprayed this on to large items and wiped off with
great success.
"JP" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Making the sister in law a coffe table based on one she saw at Crate
> and Barrel. It's dyed or stained a deep dark brown, almost black. I
> built mine from poplar, sanded, sealed with shellac and stained it
> with Minwax Jacobean. Disaster. Muddy tone and blotchy, despite the
> spit coat prep.
>
> What do I do now? Is there some kind of film finish that I can put
> over the stain and that will still reveal grain? How about glaze or
> gel stain?