Staining Poplar

JSG

Junior Member
Messages
27
I've got an unfinished body made from poplar and was wondering the best way to finish it.  I don't want to paint it.  That's the only thing I know.  And it's for no other reason than I just don't do a very good job of it and I don't want to pay someone else to do it.  I'd rather use stain or something along those lines that I can do myself.  Plus I just like the look of it better.  This is a project, and I honestly am not picky with this one.  I'll take any interesting, or traditional ideas.  What ya got, forum friends? 
 
Tung oil is NOT easy. Sorry man. That's the hardest finish I've tried except for a full nitro sunburst (which came out much better than my tung oil tries).
Get some scrap poplar from woodcraft, and try a minwax oil-based stain or two on it, see how evenly it goes in and if you get the colors you get. You can finish it up with wipe-on gel or liquid urethane (poly) or spray a clear nitro over it.
Also, please post pics and decsriptions becuase I need to finish a poplar body this summer, too.
 
Cool.  Thanks, man.  I did a danish oil finish on black korina last year and it turned out pretty good.  I wish I'd given it a sprayed satin finish afterwards though because I'm finding that my pinky nail (no matter how much regularly I groom) keeps digging into the wood where my pinky naturally anchors as I'm playing.  I don't know how much protection that would provide, but I would think it would have to help some.
 
If you are staining Poplar, first of all, make sure you are using the right color the first time.. poplar absorbs the stain really deep, and you will have to sand off half the body in order to get it off..
also, if you go for a lighter stain, some parts of the body may go green, even if it wasn't when it was unfinished.

Tru Oil goes pretty well on Poplar.
 
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