WWA Info Exchange

A couple of years ago I built a table and 2 chair set for my grandkids. I used mahogony and top coated with several coats of varnish. I am now working on 2 more chairs for the set. The wood on these are poplar. I have looked at several mahogany stains but they do not match the varnished mahogany of the original set. I checked Jeff Jewitt's book on finishes. He used raw sienna dye. Has anyone ever dyed poplar to look like varnished mahogany? If so, what dye did you use? Thanks.

Ed

Hello Ed,
I've always had luck spraying Minwax Mahogany stain on poplar. You can still use a cloth to adjust the depth if you need to. I seal it, then finish it with SW low luster moisture resistant lacquer.
I trimmed a bedroom with crown molding, door, window and baseboard trim. It really came close to matching the Ethan Allen furniture they had purchased; and the customer was very happy with it.

ed

After reading a lot of Jeff's works I decided to give dye a try a few years ago. Never went back to stain.

I get mine from a couple places on the web that sell it cheap (learned the hard way from Woodcraft's outragous prices) and in large quantities. I only use alcohol based and mixed it w/ blond shelac (which I also get on line and mix from flakes). I have to play around w/ the colors and ratios in very small quantities (I use a graduated eyedrooper and record the amounts) 'til I get the color I want.

You find that the alcohol base doesn't raise the grain nearly as much as water based which is great at sanding time. And mixing it w/ shelac gives you a built in primer coat and great even color w/o blotching.

Try it, you'll be a convert too. You should have no problem matching the other pieces in the set w/ a little expirimentation.

Joe T

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Joe T

Thanks for the responses. I have tried mahogany stain but did not get the color I was looking for. Olepeddler, What color dye would you start with on poplar to get a mahogany finish?

Ed

Well, Ed, I can only guess at this.

But since dyes come in primary colors (don't believe the CRUD on the label) I'd start w/ a light brown. See how a fairly dense ratio, say 5:1 (alcohol to dye) looks on the poplar. If that looks close to the tone of the match you're after then you can start w/ a red. But, I've been surprised to at how orange works in certain cases. I'd even consider yellow.

I call these accent colors that are meant to bring up the right color gradually so expirimentation is gonna take some time. I usually add these a drop or two at a time to my test bowl. Their ratio will be up in the 100s to one in the final mix because they are a very bright accent colors and a little goes a long way. Buy them in the smallest quantity you can.

Be sure to keep a record of all your mixes and their ratioes along w/ the result compared to your target color. Be sure to have plenty of scrap on hand to do the testing. Also, when you do find a match you're satisfied w/ be sure to put a couple coats of the final finish on it to be sure. The amber of poly will effect the color. Real varnish is even worse which I learned the hard way. I noticed but the client didn't, guess they just like me or my work. Probably my work.

Your first shot at this will be time consuming and frustrating but in the end, your patience will pay off.

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Joe T