# Finishing softwood ( Popular )



## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

I would like to know how to seal softwood, so i can apply the stain to it and it doesn't look all blotchy.
Anybody here deal with that. I have some popular and although its not going into a guitar body, i want to apply a nice light stain to it.

Somebody told me to apply several coats of Lacquer.. ( up to 10 coats )before the stain.. but i am wondering if there is an easier way.. to seal this wood.

Thanks 
Rick


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Stain is not a finish! ... There are stain conditioners that are used before staining. I have used Old Masters brand on a bunch of house doors with good success. Condition then stain. After I used lacquer over top.


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

we need a sticky for finishing.Its a good topic and i think it would do good on this forum.


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## Edutainment (Jan 29, 2008)

xuthal said:


> we need a sticky for finishing.Its a good topic and i think it would do good on this forum.


Strongly agreed. Finishing is the only part I'm afraid of for when I build a guitar (which I plan to do).


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Edutainment said:


> Strongly agreed. Finishing is the only part I'm afraid of for when I build a guitar (which I plan to do).


why are you afraid? they don't bite :smile:


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Edutainment said:


> Strongly agreed. Finishing is the only part I'm afraid of for when I build a guitar (which I plan to do).


Practice up on peices of 2x12's until you're satisfied. :smile:


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## martyb1 (Aug 5, 2007)

You can give this a try
Target Emtech 8800 Waterborne Universal Sealer
Here is a link.Great stuff.I have used it under poly,nitro and water based lacquer with no problems.

Here is a link
Sealer


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

*finishing*

I was able to get a decent finish on the popular wood i was using. I have excess to industrial finishing products, and was able to get grain filler and some cherry stain.
The grain filler worked good, and i was able to get the color i was after.

I would never use popular for a guitar, or basswod, just becuase all the work that goes into a guitar, why not use quaility wood. 

When i get around to making one, i have some nice Ash, with some really nice grain patterns.
If i was to finish this wood i would seal it and keep it a light or natural to show the grain.

I am not a good finisher, but i do know that finishing and sanding go hand in hand. if you do a poor sanding job your finishing job will be alot poor.

Rick


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## rippinglickfest (Jan 1, 2006)

*Hardwood*

Isnt poplar considered a hardwood? Thats where I get confused because there are some hardwoods softer than softwoods and viceversa.


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

*wood*

Popular is a Hardwood, but i really dont know why other than it's classed as a needle bearing tree.So needle bearing trees are softwood.

It can be very confusing, becuase i find pine harder than popular., and pine is classed as a softwood.
Mahogany is consider a hardwood but is also on the soft side. Great for guitar making because its fairly light, and a great tone wood.

I have been working with ash, very hard, very heavy wood.

Rick


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## soundhound6 (Jun 30, 2008)

Rick31797 said:


> Popular is a Hardwood, but i really dont know why other than it's classed as a needle bearing tree.So needle bearing trees are softwood.
> 
> It can be very confusing, becuase i find pine harder than popular., and pine is classed as a softwood.
> Mahogany is consider a hardwood but is also on the soft side. Great for guitar making because its fairly light, and a great tone wood.
> ...


Yeah, it is simply a broadleaf/needle leaf thing generally,but not in the literal sense.Balsawood is classed as a hardwood and Fir a softwood,but anyone who has worked with or even just handled them realise its not that simple.

Ditto on what Marty and Shoretyus said on the preconditioning.
EG...If you want to use water based aniline dye on your body..You'll want to give it a light wipe down with a moderately wet rag.
This will give the dye a "soft landing", if that makes any sense to you.
Similar idea with oil based stains,except you'll use a tung or linseed oil,then work in your stain over that.
There are a lot of options available...Do a little playing around and see what happens..scrap wood is a good thing.

Jan:food-smiley-004:


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