Darken BLO?

[Crabbyboater]

I just finished a piece, cut from poplar, then applied a 50/50 mix of BLO and mineral spirits.  It came out very light and I would like to darken it, maybe using another stain on top of the one I just applied.  Can this be done?  Any ideas?

[dgman]

Hey Crabby, Try it on a piece of scrap. I haven't tried it so I don't know if it will work or not.

[Gabby]

Crabboat.
Is it strong enough to sand back to the wood, if so you could stain it then.
Gabby

[marmoh]

My understanding is that poplar doesn't do well with stain ?

[Gabby]

What does it do Marion? Blotchy or ?
Gabby

[GrayBeard]

I have had poor results trying to 'stain' poplar...it has gotten 'blotchy' and does not stain evenly.
Also the stain reacts in strange ways with the 'color' variations in poplar.

When I use poplar I just "BLO' it!

~~~GB~~~

[marmoh]

Just pulled this from another site ......

Staining poplar is another matter entirely. In its native form, poplar tends to take stain in a very blotchy manner. It is imperative that all surfaces that will be stained be prepared properly with a couple of coats of a pre-stain wood conditioner. This will allow the stain to be applied much more evenly, and will make the grain of the poplar pop a bit more.

[GrayBeard]

Ain't worth the effort! Use Aspen or Maple!

~~~GB~~~

[Mr.Mike]

I often use stain on a project after using a 50/50 mix of BLO. It will make the stain more uniform and acts as a conditioner to help prevent blotching. I use it mostly on pine but have used it on Red Oak, White Oak, Spruce, and POPLAR. Always test on a scrap piece of material and try to find a scrap with the same grain as the project.

                     MIKE

[Crabbyboater]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.  I had already glued the base on and sanding wasn't an option, so I followed the suggestions given, cut up three small pieces of the same wood, gave them a coat of 50/50 BLO & MS, and then tried three different colored stains on them, over the BLO.  This worked, so I just applied a new darker stain over the BLO and it looks fine. 

I know poplar isn't a favorite wood around here, but I had a 6' piece and had to use it SOMEWHERE!  You know, "Waste not, want not."

[Rapid Roger]

OH! Wait now Crabby....I personally think popular is a VERY GOOD wood for scrolling or any other wood working project. I use it allot for all kind of things. I have made blanket chests, wat-not shelves and allot of scrolling works out of it. The reason I like it is... It is fairly inexpensive, it machines well and you can make it look like any kind of wood you want to.
The real secret (if you want to call it that) is after you have assembled the project, give it a one pound cut of shellac and sand lightly before you use any stain. Then lightly sand it again (400 grit) and put on your top coat of polyurethane.
To get a 1# cut of shellac just pour out a bit of shellac from the can and mix it with an equal amount of alcohol. (The shellac you buy at the hardware store is usually a 2# cut.) Once the shellac has soaked into the wood and the alcohol has evaporated you have sealed the grain of the wood but, it will raise the grain and cause "fuzzy's" hence the need to lightly sand with 220 grit sand paper. Then apply stain and rub it in or wipe it off to the desired shade. Now using 400 grit paper sand lightly to get that "baby butt smooth" feel and apply a coat or two of wipe on poly. You can use gloss, semi gloss or satin poly, it doesn't matter. Now, to carry it a bit further....SAND WITH BROWN PAPER SACK between coats.....Don't believe me? Try it you will like it!!!!!
I have made popular look just like walnut or mahogany this way.

Rog

[Rapid Roger]

Case in point. Yep, it is ALL poplar wood.

Rog

[Gabby]

Beautiful chest Roger! That is really putting your money where your mouth is.
Gabby

[dunk]

I agree with roger.  Even the brown paper bag trick.  Try it...it works!  Poplar is one of my favorite woods.

[Crabbyboater]

Thanks for all that info, Rog.  I'm still a novice, so that's really helpful to me.  BTW, I read about the brown paper in a post quite some time ago and have been using it ever since.  It works great.