I can't belive its Poplar! Looking for advice.

[Zaman]

Look at this body I got from the "Gear For Sale or Trade" section of this forum!!! I have never seen such a beautiful piece of Poplar that is so evenly and distinctly flamed throughout. I'm ecstatic. In this pic I put just a little bit of wood prep to enhance the flame. This thing is not green or yellow at all. I couldn't believe it was Poplar. The color is more like Alder. Not quite Maple, because its not too yellow.

Now, I'm open up the mic for finish suggestions. I know that Poplar is a very merciless wood towards finishes. Once its on, there's no going back and no sanding back. That's why I've heard the multistep staining process usually applied to figured woods doesn't work well with Poplar.

I'm thinking to just shoot it with a slightly bursted tint and then clearing it. Should I bleach it with Oxalic Acid in order to fade the wood grain so it doesn't take away from the flame figure? What do y'all say?

 

[Mor Paul]

Marko, what would you do?
What about acid wash jeancaster?

 

[m4rk0]

if I had a chance to do mine again, and yes, it was just as flamed as yours, I would keep it as natural as possible. maybe a really light stain
keep in mind that the stain on the sides will turn out different from the rest of the body.

 

[Zaman]

if I had a chance to do mine again, and yes, it was just as flamed as yours, I would keep it as natural as possible. maybe a really light stain
keep in mind that the stain on the sides will turn out different from the rest of the body.

Thanks, guys. Marko, I totally agree with going as natural as possible. If that's the case about the sides then why not burst the tints so that the change in color appears to be intended?

 

[Watershed]

That is nice.
Tinting lacquer would probably end up soaking in a bit more evenly than stain on the sides, if you were after a color.
I could see two colors being dicy.

Subsequent coats of clear would melt in and blend it pretty well i'll bet.
Never personally tried it though.

Nice find,
James

 

[tfarny]

Good score. Based on my experience with poplar and your apparent finishing experience, I'd go for a light tinted spray and then clear nitro. Staining poplar is unpredictable, though you might be happy enough with what you get. Mine turned out fine in the end. Stew mac or reranch sell tinted nitro in cans, a simple amber with red or brown burst would look great.

 

[DangerousR6]

Looks pretty sweet, and flamey.....Now let's see the front....Tru-oil might be an option to keep the natural looks and still bring out the flame.... :dontknow:

 

[Keyser Soze]

I'd suggest a single thin coat of boiled linseed to enhance the depth of the figure, seal with shellac, maybe a shoot a layer of tint (I'd do a light amber - something close to the natural look of the wood mainly to help blend the overall look), then clear topcoat.  Wood that pretty really deserves to be shown in as close to natural as possible.

Do not allow stain to touch that wood.  Unless you like the look of blotches and overly dark end grain.

 

[Zaman]

These are some fantastic suggestions. Thanks!

Keyser, I'm bleaching the wood to be as white as possible so that it accepts colors better. Good idea?

I've heard pretty unanimously that stains should be avoided. What about this:

http://reranchstore.stores.yahoo.net/blutran.html

Yay or nay?

[Edited per DangerousR6's clarification. Thanks!]

 

[DangerousR6]

These are some fantastic suggestions. Thanks!

Keyser, I actually don't want to accent the grain. I want to minimize it so that it doesn't take away from the flame. Hence, I'm bleaching the wood to be as white as possible so that it accepts colors better.

I've heard pretty unanimously that stains should be avoided. What about this:

http://reranchstore.stores.yahoo.net/blutran.html

Yay or nay?

I think he was referring more to enhancing the flame in the wood, not the grain... :dontknow:

 

[Keyser Soze]

Correct, oil tends to enhance the figure of the wood (flame, quilt, birdseye, eye, depth, etc.) giving it more '3D' pop/depth.

I would not bleach the wood.  But I'm not a big fan of bleaching in general, usually with furniture I'll use glazes to even out problems rather than bleaching the natural wood. 

You could do a blue toner (i.e. a transparent color coat after sealing) but it likely will not look much like the photo.  If you image looking at the body a pane of colored glass that is what a toner coat will do. 

But the main reason it will not look like the photo is the natural wood underneath the color coat will not have the highly contrasting light and dark areas.  The only reliable way to get that effect is staining and sanding.  Which works well on figured maple, but not so well with poplar.  You really  do not want to try this with poplar.

If you remain unconvinced please go get a couple test boards of plain poplar then experiment with stains - you'll quickly see just how horribly poplar responds to stains.  Then try to fix those problems and you'll see how hard it is to 'un-do' a poor stain job.

The figure of that body is just too good to risk.

 

[Zaman]

KeyserSoze, I've applied a coat of boiled linseed oil and I can't believe how right you were! It enhanced the figure brilliantly! Its been almost a day, but I'm going to let it dry an extra day.

You suggested I follow the linseed oil with "shellac, maybe a shoot a layer of tint (I'd do a light amber - something close to the natural look of the wood mainly to help blend the overall look), then clear topcoat."

It seems that once the wood is sealed with Shellac I should be safe to apply tinted lacquers to get a slight burst effect, right? I just want a real slight burst and no drastic dark tobacco type effects. The sides have some of the best flame figure so I don't want to darken those out.

Would I be safe doing that or should I just stick with your original plan?

Thanks!

 

[Keyser Soze]

Once you've sealed the oil with shellac you can apply pretty much whatever tinted or pigmented lacquer(s) you wish. 

The purpose of the shellac sealer is twofold. First it blocks the oil present in the wood from interfering with the performance of the topcoat and second, should you not like the results of whatever lacquer you apply you can simply moisten a rag with lacquer thinner, wipe off the offending materials and try again (shellac does not dissolve from lacquer thinner but do work quickly.)

A burst is a great idea and could look awesome - one of the benefits of a continuous 'ring' of color around a body (especially a multi-piece body) is that it ties the whole thing together, making it more visually cohesive.