Colored / Stain Danish Oil??

[kmmcrafts]

Anyone use the Danish oil finish with color / stain added to it? Just wondering what your thoughts are on the stuff.. 

I have a big pile of Poplar lumber given to me last year.. couldn't refuse the deal.. though I don't care for the look of poplar for many of my projects.. free poplar is free poplar right? Anyway,  now I'm setting here getting real low on my Cherry and Oak lumber that I use the most and keep looking at the 150 bft. of Poplar just sitting there.. I realize I'm probably not going to get the "real look" of cherry or oak.. but just wondered how well this Danish stain oil works? I normally use the natural color Danish oil.. ever been a big fanatic of stains etc..but I have a lot of Poplar just sitting here.. who knows.. maybe I'll learn a way to get nice results using this poplar up.. like the way it cuts etc.. and well... price of Poplar it way less than Cherry or Oak.. 

So anyway since I am not a experienced wood finisher since I've never experimented with anything other than dipping oils.. what is a good way to use up my pile of poplar besides a nice bon fire, LOL ( won't do that for real BTW.. )Just trying to learn new finishing methods etc.. and try to expand my brain a little.. I can put a nice finish on a car or anything metal.. but when it comes to wood........ LOL.....

Thanks in advance for your input on finishing procedures etc..

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Kevin I have used the different colored Watco danish oil stains and had good results or at least achieved what I set out to do. Have used med and dark walnut, cherry, fruitwood and a few others. I have also used minwax stains with good results. I have used them on oak and maple only, never poplar. Have done some pine too but that is always blotchy and do not like the look no matter what additive you use. They change the color of the wood which is what they are intended to do. Oils penetrate deeply and can be top coated without problems. 

Will say this whatever color you use only one coat is needed because with oil you can not deepen color with additional coats. The pigments lay in the grain and build to a point where they can not hold any more. If you start trying additional coats the stain does not dry and becomes a sticky mess.  Thus flood the project and let soak and wipe dry and be done. Being I use oak so much I have also learned that if staining it is utmost important to keep wiping dry as the stain will continue to ooze out of the grain and could leave puddles of a sticky mess. Again the warning of disposal of rags is needed to be taken serious.  

The thing you have to keep in mind is that they color wood, not change texture of wood. In other words no stain is going to make a piece of pine or poplar and make it look like cherry or walnut. It will be able to get the color close to those woods but never exact because of the grain patterns and texture of woods. 

You wanting to replace the look and color of cherry with poplar will never happen. You are changing the natural look of a wood to imitate another. Now I suggest you give it a try and see for yourself and maybe this look is something you like and use and not treat it as an instead of wood but as an also wood. 

I use to offer many of my shelves, mirrors and clocks in different colors because people use to be big into darker furniture. Now today light is in so i stopped doing that but can custom make if need be. I never misrepresent wood types though. If cherry is wanted then cherry is what they get. 

[WayneMahler]

Might want to consider using a dye. I have and it works pretty good. Mix the dye with denatured alcohol, dries quick and you can achieve the richness of color your want with multiple coats. Then top coat with what you want. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I too have used dyes to color wood but you are doing something different when dying wood as oppose to staining it. I have used Rit dyes in alcohol but the thing to remember here is it is tough to even out the color if doing a large project because you can see the swipe marks when working with brush or even a rag. Wiping back over a dyed area makes that area darker. I have used this method on birdhouse ornaments but have dipped because they were small enough. If wanting to dye wood then I suggest using TransTint Dyes. Best on the market for depth of color and a little goes a long way. 

[oldhudson]

I agree with John, give it a try. Mask off small sections and label them for whats been done. You'll have the results and can make your decision. IMHO I don't think you will get poplar to look like cherry or oak without more effort than Watco. 

Here's a picture of a vanity I did a couple of years ago. All the dark wood you see is poplar. I don't remember all the coats nor the order - too old. But I like the look. (Not that it's relevant to the thread, but it might be of interest. The door panels are reeded glass. I painted the backs of the glass with silver paint. The other item I was pretty proud of was the bottom drawer. In most vanities there are double doors that cover the sink plumbing as is used to store bathroom cleaning supplies/equipment. I thought it a waste of space and made that area smaller with a false bottom and added the full width drawer. Great space for towels and tp.)

Good luck finding your solution, that's a lot of wood.

Edited July 6, 2018 by oldhudson

[munzieb]

Great looking cabinet. Wonderful workmanship!

[kmmcrafts]

11 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Kevin I have used the different colored Watco danish oil stains and had good results or at least achieved what I set out to do. Have used med and dark walnut, cherry, fruitwood and a few others. I have also used minwax stains with good results. I have used them on oak and maple only, never poplar. Have done some pine too but that is always blotchy and do not like the look no matter what additive you use. They change the color of the wood which is what they are intended to do. Oils penetrate deeply and can be top coated without problems. 

Will say this whatever color you use only one coat is needed because with oil you can not deepen color with additional coats. The pigments lay in the grain and build to a point where they can not hold any more. If you start trying additional coats the stain does not dry and becomes a sticky mess.  Thus flood the project and let soak and wipe dry and be done. Being I use oak so much I have also learned that if staining it is utmost important to keep wiping dry as the stain will continue to ooze out of the grain and could leave puddles of a sticky mess. Again the warning of disposal of rags is needed to be taken serious.  

The thing you have to keep in mind is that they color wood, not change texture of wood. In other words no stain is going to make a piece of pine or poplar and make it look like cherry or walnut. It will be able to get the color close to those woods but never exact because of the grain patterns and texture of woods. 

You wanting to replace the look and color of cherry with poplar will never happen. You are changing the natural look of a wood to imitate another. Now I suggest you give it a try and see for yourself and maybe this look is something you like and use and not treat it as an instead of wood but as an also wood. 

I use to offer many of my shelves, mirrors and clocks in different colors because people use to be big into darker furniture. Now today light is in so i stopped doing that but can custom make if need be. I never misrepresent wood types though. If cherry is wanted then cherry is what they get. 

Thank you JT for your reply.. I really appreciate you sharing your wealth of knowledge here.. Years ago I accidentally bought a can of walnut ( seems like it was dark walnut) and I dipped a couple of ornaments made from BB plywood.. They looked like they fell into a mud hole and had blotchy look to them.. not having any experience in wood finishing i thought the stuff was junk. Mind you.. this was back when I first started working with wood.. I've read a little over the years and have heard the BB ply doesn't do well with stains etc..  but never looked into really trying it on any other wood.. I'm going to try some scraps with some of the oil... provided it's still good... that was a long time ago so may not be an good.. 

I do realize I'm just coloring the wood.. and I would never try to pass it off to a customer as another type of wood.. My step brother worked at a cabinet shop.. and that is exactly what they do.. sell the customer the type of wood but then actually made it from I think he said Poplar then stained it the color of the wood they was supposed to use.. he said the customers never know.. as long as the color is there.. LOL... whatever I guess.. not how I roll though.. 

I'd just like to learn other finishing methods etc.. but probably will always use my natural color as I always do..  

While on the subject of finishes.. I tried the whole BLO and mineral spirits mixture.. I think the look is similar to that of Danish oil.. But I think you mentioned to e in another post that this isn't mean to be a finish like Danish oil? While at the store today I seen a can of BLO.. and it says on the can that is seals and protects.. so why do many people say it's meant to be top coated with something? Just curious..

Also finally picked up a can of lacquer and top coated a piece I made and finished with my 50 /50 mix of BLO and Mineral spirits.. Turned out real nice.. I like the lacquer look much better than any of the other top coats I've used so far.. so Thanks again for that tip.. it did leave a rough feel to the piece but I think some real fine maybe 1500 - 2000 grit sandpaper and either a light coat or just maybe wax will do the trick for that..  

  

[kmmcrafts]

11 hours ago, WayneMahler said:

Might want to consider using a dye. I have and it works pretty good. Mix the dye with denatured alcohol, dries quick and you can achieve the richness of color your want with multiple coats. Then top coat with what you want. 

Thanks Wayne, I've read a little about dyes.. and had forgotten about that option as well. I need to give this one a try sometime too.. 

[kmmcrafts]

10 hours ago, oldhudson said:

I agree with John, give it a try. Mask off small sections and label them for whats been done. You'll have the results and can make your decision. IMHO I don't think you will get poplar to look like cherry or oak without more effort than Watco. 

Here's a picture of a vanity I did a couple of years ago. All the dark wood you see is poplar. I don't remember all the coats nor the order - too old. But I like the look. (Not that it's relevant to the thread, but it might be of interest. The door panels are reeded glass. I painted the backs of the glass with silver paint. The other item I was pretty proud of was the bottom drawer. In most vanities there are double doors that cover the sink plumbing as is used to store bathroom cleaning supplies/equipment. I thought it a waste of space and made that area smaller with a false bottom and added the full width drawer. Great space for towels and tp.)

Good luck finding your solution, that's a lot of wood.

Very nice work there.. From what I'm gathering.. if I want to make it look real good like what you have done here.. I need a stain rather than Danish oil.. I sort of feel like trying to stain a fretwork piece would be rather difficult to do with all the small cutouts etc.. maybe work by dipping into stain and wiping the excess off and maybe blow out the fretwork with a air compressor.. just not to sure on that method though.. I guess I just need to experiment with some scraps and see what I can learn..   

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Kevin instead of trying to copy and paste comments and give my answers I will try to explain a few things. Danish oil is mineral spirits, blo, poly and some driers mixed in. The key word in there is polyurethane. That is what makes it different from oil stains and every manufacturer has their own formulas. The Danish oil you are talking about has added stains to color it to the mixture but it still has poly in it. This is like a one step does all finish. stain and top coat all in one. With BLO it does not have poly so it has no film protection as well as most stains such as minwax line. This is why people say it needs to be top coated because it is a dull dried look. Yes it seals the wood but it is not protected from moistures such as water, alcohol and other things. If that cabinet was just stained, yes it is sealed but not protected from moisture which it will see. Even humidity is a moisture to reckon with.  I can list a ton of manufacturers but just read the can as to the ingredients and it will tell you what is meant to be used as. I love Danish oil because it is a one step process and sometimes I will top coat. If I ever top coat I use lacquers. I have said many times here lacquer and poly do not play well together and they do not. But in the case of Danish oil if you only use one coat to seal the wood then there is not enough poly to cause adhesion problems providing you let dry and cure. If I do large projects and or many projects that require lacquer I will break out my compressor and use my HVLP gun and waterbase lacquer. If i am doing a small number of projects Deft is my go to lacquer.(or similar) Whenever I dip projects in Danish oil I never have to blow out frets. I let them drain to the side and wipe.

If you are getting into doing faux woods made from poplar then there is an art to that but as I said grain pattern can not fool a knowledgeable person. I have people ask me many times what the wood is that they are interested and when I tell them if it is not some they know it goes right over their head. I will right down the woods used on the receipt when I make one out for them. It is more a reminder to me because a copy is kept by me.  

There are many products on the market that have more poly mixed in and are glossier and or more satin look. Just amounts used in mixture. 

Using dyes is another topic in it own. 

 

One other thing, the use of lacquer over poly is a choice because of ease of use, looks, and also environment the item is going to be used. Waterbased products over oil is another choice thing and both have their pluses and minuses. 

Edited July 7, 2018 by JTTHECLOCKMAN