# Finishing Poplar to match cherry



## MasterSplinter (Jan 12, 2013)

I have some cherry table legs. I have some poplar. I heard it can be stained to look like cherry. How can i get this results?


----------



## Bonka (Mar 24, 2011)

I used General finishes water based cherry stain. It was too red so I kept adding green to it and got whatwanted. I used Charles Neil's "Blotch Control" and it came out great. It was a test piece for making a blanket chest out of real cherry.


----------



## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

MasterSplinter said:


> I have some cherry table legs. I have some poplar. I heard it can be stained to look like cherry. How can i get this results?


Putting lipstick on a pig doesn't make it not be a pig.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

MasterSplinter said:


> I have some cherry table legs. I have some poplar. I heard it can be stained to look like cherry. How can i get this results?


 If the poplar doesn't have too much of a pronounced green to it you might be able to get it look similar to cherry however the grain is different. It will look much more bland than the cherry. You would have better luck if you would get some alder. You're just going to have to get some scraps and tinker with the stain. Poplar is bad to blotch so you will need to start with a wood conditioner.


----------



## DST (Jan 10, 2011)

Steve Neul said:


> If the poplar doesn't have too much of a pronounced green to it you might be able to get it look similar to cherry however the grain is different. It will look much more bland than the cherry. You would have better luck if you would get some alder. You're just going to have to get some scraps and tinker with the stain. Poplar is bad to blotch so you will need to start with a wood conditioner.


Alder ...Poor mans cherry


----------



## MasterSplinter (Jan 12, 2013)

DST said:


> Alder ...Poor mans cherry



I thought that's what was said about poplar.


----------



## Rick Mosher (Feb 26, 2009)

Furniture manufacturers do this all the time. To make it look right it is a multiple step process and is better done spraying but can also be done by hand. Hopefully you are not using poplar with dark streaks of black, brown and green in it, if you are then you are in for an even MORE complicated process. :icon_smile: 

1. Spray on dye stain to color the poplar the same color as your cherry boards.

2. Wash coat of sealer or pre-conditioner if that is what you like to use.

3. Stain with the same stain you are using on your cherry.

4. Shade or glaze to make the poplar match perfectly.

5. Add same topcoat as cherry.

If you are using crappy poplar then you will have to paint out the dark streaks with a thinned toner on the raw wood first and then you are using glazes. Unless you are a very experienced finished I wouldn't recommend doing this for the first time on an actual piece of furniture.


----------



## GoIrish (Jan 29, 2012)

I matched a prefab unfinished bookcase to a cherry crib that I made. I used garnet shellac on the cherry and I added a little solar lux mahogany to tint the garnet shellac on the poplar. It look making some test boards before I got it right. Grain was obviously wrong but color ended up very close.


----------



## J.C. (Jan 20, 2012)

Are they new cherry legs? Cherry darkens considerably as it ages. You can match the color now but in a few months it won't match and will only get worse as it ages.


----------



## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

I am going to stretch it some and say "it ain't goin ta happn."

You are never going to get popular to look like cherry.

George


----------



## MasterSplinter (Jan 12, 2013)

Thank you guy. I was asking because i read somewhere that it had simular grain and could with ease. I can see this is wrong. Good point JC. I didnt think about that. I will just have to get some cherry.


----------



## byrd (Nov 17, 2010)

I have used wood bleach on poplar before I stain especiallly if you have any dark or green streaks in the poplar. It will turn the poplar almost white but it takes color a lot better after bleached. I am with JC, it will only match until the cherry starts to darken.


----------



## Dan44356 (May 29, 2013)

Poplar alone can easily be made to look like cherry; however, with the two woods being side by side in the construction of the piece I would either get new legs made of poplar (cheaper choice), or construct the rest of the table out of cherry. I'm not sure about where you are, but my local pricing is about $1 more per board foot (SLR1E) for cherry. On a side note, cherry is so beautiful that I prefer to finish it natural and let the wood darken to color naturally. Just my $.02.


----------



## snookfish (Jan 10, 2011)

If you look at the last two issues of WOOD magazine, there is a stain that is mixed at a Sherwin Williams store that will give you something like you are asking. In the article it provides you the information for the stain and you simply take that to the store and they make the stain. I have not tried it myself, but for 3 issues it gives you the plans to make a complete bedroom set and if done with poplar this stain is supposed to mimic aged cherry. I do want to make the end tables and blanket chest though and I think I'm going to try it. It's on my list of things to make before the end of the year.


----------



## Dan44356 (May 29, 2013)

snookfish said:


> If you look at the last two issues of WOOD magazine, there is a stain that is mixed at a Sherwin Williams store that will give you something like you are asking. In the article it provides you the information for the stain and you simply take that to the store and they make the stain. I have not tried it myself, but for 3 issues it gives you the plans to make a complete bedroom set and if done with poplar this stain is supposed to mimic aged cherry. I do want to make the end tables and blanket chest though and I think I'm going to try it. It's on my list of things to make before the end of the year.


Have you built the end tables and blanket chest yet Snookfish?


----------

