How do they make poplar look like cherry?

[Frederick Skelly]

Hi guys. Im Fred. I usually hang out on the Neander forum but today Ive got this finishing question. Id appreciate your advice on it.

The story is this. A friend of mine recently built a house and put in custom cherry kitchen cabinets. To go with it, the remodeller put in poplar trim all over the place and finished it to match the cherry cabinets in the kitchen. My friend said he paid quite a bit to have that done, but that it was (obviously) far less than using cherry all over. It looks pretty darn close.

I know its not just stained/varnished. But I dont know how to duplicate it. Do any of you?

Thanks for helping me!
Fred

[Mike Henderson]

I don't know the answer to that question but I had a professional woodworking friend who told me that he had a finisher that could make any wood look like some other wood. I assume he meant that the finisher would have to start with a light colored wood.

Mike

[Scott Holmes]

It can be done to match color & tone. Not wood grain. Since the grain is similar making them match is a multistep process. 1st step is to dye the wood to get your base color. Then seal Then use a toner then seal then; use a glaze if needed. then top coat. This is not a process to learn on your project; PRATICE is essential.

[Frederick Skelly]

Thank you!

[Prashun Patel]

Be also ware that those cherry cabinets will darken with time. The poplar and its dye will not; if anything, they may fade. A mismatch may be acceptable, but go in with yr eyes wide open.

If you are trimming out the cherry cabinets, IMHO, you should consider carefully just using cherry.

[David Weaver]

It can be done to match color & tone. Not wood grain. Since the grain is similar making them match is a multistep process. 1st step is to dye the wood to get your base color. Then seal Then use a toner then seal then; use a glaze if needed. then top coat. This is not a process to learn on your project; PRATICE is essential.

Around here, we call that the furniture store finish. People love alder and poplar as "cherry" around here if it's done right, and have no clue it's not cherry.

Pieces I build out of cherry are given nothing but shellac and lacquer, and my wife and her friends call the manufactured pieces we have "cherry" and mine "not cherry, because of the color, duh!"

It's a skill that I don't have, though, and I have to admit from a making poplar look good standpoint, a good finisher can really make it so that you look awfully close before you even think to question what the wood is.

[John TenEyck]

Exactly what Scott said. Poplar can be made to look like cherry and walnut and no one's the wiser except it's a lot softer. But it's a rather involved process to figure out and carry out. I would bet that whoever did it had a lot of experience with it to be able to offer it at a lower cost than just using real cherry.

John

[Brian W Smith]

We call it,"Hotel finish".

Start paying real close attention to "cheapish" hotel furniture.I say cheapish.....but the truth be known,it's used in some,pretty far up the rungs establishments.And this shouldn't be viewed as a criticism......in fact,it's quite the opposite.A rental environment is brutal on any and all furnishings.Light coloured,hardwoods finished in the,motif du jour should be easy to touch up and just cause less excitement than higher priced "nice" woods.

Practicing your finish on shop fixtures/cabinetry usually represents a good testbed.Slamming sheets of plywood,or an 8/4 slab into a finish will test it just about like a hotel.

The real trick in my mind isn't so much the "how to".....but,"when".In the case of Kitchens,I'd have to agree with post above about using matching woods(Cherry).It's easier in the long run.Then make the decision on exactly where to demarcate WRT adjacent rms.

[Dan Hulbert]

The woodwork in my house was pine finished with a minwax cherry stain. When I added interior shutters, they needed to "match". The shutter frames were made of Poplar with luan ply panels. I got a decent match by first using the General Finishes Amber dye, then top coating with 4-5 coats of amber shellac. After two years, they still look good and the LOML still likes them.

[Jim Becker]

I have some minor pieces of trim made from poplar and, believe it or not, pine, next to cherry cabinetry in my home...dyed to color. The real challenge with using non-cherry trim with cherry is that the cherry darkens considerably over time, so you have to start darker with the trim since these other species don't darken as much in many cases. For awhile, things don't look matched and it's a real gamble that they ever will...

[Howard Acheson]

Obviously, the best way to get the look of cherry is to use cherry. But, with a bit of effort and a couple of extra steps, you can massage poplar (soft maple, birch, etc.) to resemble cherry. The first thing that you have to understand is that poplar does not take pigment stain, especially the so-called “penetrating stain” very well. It does, however, react fairly predictable to water-soluble dye. With that in mind here is the schedule that I used to convert poplar to something that reasonably resembles cherry (see the attached photo).

· I began by mixing one-part of our rosewood dye concentrate and one-part of our brown mahogany dye concentrate with 18-20 parts distilled water (the dye concentrate is first made by mixing one-ounce of dye powder in one-pint of hot distilled water). Applying this to the poplar in the first second panel “killed” the green of the poplar and gave me the canvas on which to build the faux cherry.

· I then “sealed” the dye color (third panel) by applying a 2# cut of super blonde shellac which I lightly sanded with 320g after it was dry—sand just enough to smooth the surface. The shellac “barrier coat” prevents the pigment stain to come from altering the color of the dye. It also prevents the stain from coming in direct contact with the difficult to stain poplar, thus eliminating the problem of “blotching”.

· Follow the shellac with the “cherry” wiping stain of your choice (panel four). Try to use a pigment only stain (no oil-soluble dye element). In this case I used General Finishes Georgian Cherry gel stain but any number of wiping stains would have done just as well. The key is to apply the stain and then wipe it back off until you get the look that you want. You only need the thinnest coat of pigment stain over the shellac sealed dye to produce the desired effect. In reality, you are using the stain as a “glaze” in this application.

· After the stain is cured, topcoat with your desired finish (top panel). In this case I used Waterlox Original Sealer/Finish applied as a wipe-on varnish.

[Craig Schulz]

Hi Howie,

I'm new to this site and want to take a look at your pictures regarding making poplar look like cherry. I can't find the attachment however, not sure what I am doing wrong.

Craig

[Frederick Skelly]

Hi Howie,

I'm new to this site and want to take a look at your pictures regarding making poplar look like cherry. I can't find the attachment however, not sure what I am doing wrong.

Craig

Haven't seen Howie around since about June, according to his profile, Craig. Sorry I don't have his pics either.
Fred

[Craig Schulz]

Thanks Fred. Appreciate the info.