Finish for Poplar Music Box

Poplar is a hardwood used mostly for framework in couches and chairs. You’ll also see it used for furniture that is painted…because poplar runs green and doesn’t take stain well. That’s why it’s used as framework. There are sealers and other stuff you can try (and I’m sure someone will suggest it later) but paint is probably the best choice. My neighbor rebuilt her kitchen cabinets and was going to go with maple, painted white. I told her that if she’s gonna paint, to use poplar instead. She turned out some beautiful cabinets and painted them a brick red instead, and saved boo-koo dollars in the difference between the cost of maple vs. poplar. Saved enough to buy a Viking range instead of Kenmore!

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

I’ve been told quite a few times that you cannot stain poplar successfully. Maybe my standards are just low, but I had a poplar board with nothing to do, so I thought I’d try a small box (12w x 7d x 5h) and stained with with Minwax Red Mahogany then a few coats of wipe-on poly and I’m pretty pleased with how the experiment turned out. Do you pictures of what you’re getting?

-- When you give someone a chance it may well be their last.

Russel, thanks for the photo. I’m getting about the same color you did but yours looks a lot better with the poly ( I haven’t top coated mine yet ) . I was hoping for just one shade ( the darkest ) but yours looks very nice so I might just try to duplicate your effort.

I’m still interested if someone knows how to get a consistent dark shade red mahogany on poplar.

-- Leon -- Houston, TX - " I create all my own designs and it looks like it "

I found a piece of poplar at the Rona store and my first thought was “hmm this looks a little like my willow wood”. I made the stars out of it (the poplar). I love the colour of the wood. Poplar is probably a lot easier to find than willow (except for in my wood pile).. I’m pretty excited!

(and I have nothing to contribute to help you with your question).. just wanted to say how much I love the natural colour.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)