More poplar finishing problems

[Frederick Skelly]

Well, it was a pretty little hepplewhite table done in poplar, mostly with hand tools. Then, my mom asked me to "finish it dark". Once again, transtint in distilled water, applied with a sponge. No blotches this time, thanks to all your advice last year. But there are wide parts of the grain that simply absorb more dye than others - ending up quite a bit darker than the rest. The dark spots are usually grain that was nicely figured - the stuff I liked the best. Man, I'm really sick about this.

Got out 1000 grit sandpaper and worked only the sections that were taking too much dye. Thought I'd close up the pores a bit like often works with end grain. It didnt work.

Applied another coat of dye, thinking "surely the dark parts are saturated by now and this will even it out." It didn't work.

I really do not want to break out the gel stain for this piece. What the devil am I doing wrong? It looks like crap.

Any ideas for how to recover this, or even tips for next time will sure be appreciated. (For example, would a grain tamer have worked?) How the heck can I get even color when finishing by hand? A sprayer wont work in my shop.

I'm close to throwing many hours of work into the trash. (Sigh)

Thanks guys.
Fred

[Jerry Thompson]

I use either a hide glue sizing or Charles Neil's product Color Conditioner for blotch control. You can do a web search and order it on line.
I let the poplar green areas turn brown before I try anything with the finishing process. Neil's product does an excellent job and I have made items that look like cherry using General Finishes dyes.
It is always best to use a large practice board sanded and let sit to turn the green to brown. Then I get cherry dye and green dye. The cherry is always too red for my tastes so I add green. One has to record how much green is added to how much cherry so one has a reference for next time.

[Don Jarvie]

How bout some pictures? It maybe not what you expected but it may not be that bad.

[David Eisenhauer]

A wash coat of thin, de waxed shellac prior to the Transtint will also help reduce the more open pores from sucking up more dye than the rest of the surface.

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the advice. I'm thinking next time I'll definitely try a wash of some kind.

Don: My camera's not playing well with the computer so I can't upload pics. But I'll take another look with your point in mind. Thank you.

Fref

[Bill McNiel]

I recently used Charles Neil Blotch control on Cherry and it did a really nice job.

[Frederick Skelly]

I recently used Charles Neil Blotch control on Cherry and it did a really nice job.

Thanks Bill. I was just reading about that. I'm going to order some.
Fred

[Frederick Skelly]

I got to thinking that maybe you folks were right and it wasn't as terrible as I felt it was. Had my Mom look at it. She asked for one more coat of dye to darken it further.

I actually gave it 2 more coats. That brought most of the piece up to the same color as the dark spots. Too dark for me, but of course one's Mom loves anything he makes, right? She's satisfied so I'm going to let this dry a couple days and put on Minwax Tung Oil Finish to get a bit of amber in the color mix. I'd rather use shellac but I think it will cause the Transtint to lift because it's also soluble in alcohol. Next time, I'll use the Neil Blotch Control and powdered dye in water.

We'll see if I get any better at it, huh?

Thanks again guys!

Fred