Are there certain woods that stain well?

Oak and ash take stain well.

-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.

And you say your a furniture maker ? lol

Thank you for your answer trifern. It was very helpful. As for Woodchuck1957’s smart ass answer – I don’t need it. I’ve been able to make over $100,000 per year for the last 5 years making firniture without ever staining wood so don’t feel too sorry for me.

-- Always busy. http://www.NHwoodworking.com

And I don’t need someone blowing dust up my port. $100,000 a year makeing furniture ? LOL, your full of it. You sub it out, and take your generous cut from other peoples hard work. Your question makes it’s very obvious that you don’t know squat about woodworking. I don’t have much patience for conmen.

Not that I need to explain myself to you, but we primarily work in oiled cherry and painted poplar. I’m sorry that you are so angry and upset that mu wife and I do OK. The hard work is ours. I thought these forums were here to allow people to ask questions and get helpful feedback.
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If anyone else has anything constructive to add in answering my original question I would really appreciate it.

-- Always busy. http://www.NHwoodworking.com

Sure ya do.

Charles Neil has a really good 10 dvd set just on finishing, its well worth the viewing.

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

Putting all the nonsense aside (guys there are plenty of political forums where this kind of exchange can go on) I have found that on woods that tend to be blotchy, maple being a good example, that a coat of a 1 lb cut of clear dewaxed shellac, sanded lightly before staining, takes care of the problem. Also if I am going to stain (which I rarely do anymore as I prefer to let the wood speak for itself) I use gel stains. I find they are easier to control and offer the best opportunity for not only blending when applying but using more than one color and blending when being applied.

Doug

-- Doug, Carrollton, TX. www.djswoodworks.com

Do gel stains allow the grain to still show on most woods? I’ve only used gel stain on oak for arts & crafts style furniture but unlike most woods oak has a very deep grain. Do you think a gel stain would look good on wood such as poplar that doesn’t have a very attractive grain?

-- Always busy. http://www.NHwoodworking.com

Hey Sonny
I’m with kindlingmaker The Charles Neil Finishing A-z is a total full blown school on finishing. Gel stain is a good choice for poplar because poplar tends to blotch but by using gel it keeps the stain on the surface and minimizes the blotching. Your right about poplar not having a great figure its a better paint grade material but with good finishing techniques you can make any wood look like many other woods.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I have some samples of western red alder on my web site. http://offthegridlights.com/index.php?option=com_expose&Itemid=28 I find that it stains great, and is very workable.

-- Life is to short to own an ugly boat.

If i am doing any stain work i always take leftover lacquer and thin it waaay down and i use those zep spray bottles and spray a coat on then i just wipe with a rag lacquer evaporates fast and it seals the grain enough that you dont get that blotchyness then stain it. deffinatly critical on all your end grain edges after you run everything through your router table if that makes sense. And i agree alder is a good even staining wood, maple gets the best results with me when i spray my stains oak just takes to much work to get anything worth while. Poplar is a good choice for painting atleast thats all i use it for. good luck