Poplar and paint?

[Mark W Pugh]

Stupid question, are there any problems with spray painting poplar? Want to build cabinet FF and door/drawer fronts with it.

Anything else to spray with, besides paint, for a hard white finish?

Thsnkd

[Jesse Busenitz]

Poplar should work just fine. Some people use tinted lacquer but I haven't messed with it before.

[Tom M King]

I can't think of a better interior wood for taking paint than Poplar. Many choices in coatings.

[Frederick Skelly]

I've done it. It works just fine!
Good luck,
Fred

[Chris Padilla]

It is the ultimate paint-grade hardwood!

[Bill Orbine]

While poplar is excellent paint grade material.....soft maple even better.

[John TenEyck]

+1 Poplar is a great wood, but too soft for me to use for stuff that will be exposed as it damages so easily. I use maple, hard or soft, whatever I can get cheaper. It paints great. Whatever wood you choose, inspect, fill, sand, inspect, fill, prime, inspect, fill, sand, prime, repeat, repeat, repeat - and then finally paint it. Unlike clearcoat, paint shows every defect no matter how small.

John

[Ken Grant]

Poplar is great for paint grade trim and works fine for face frames, but I have had some issues with warping on poplar cabinet doors. I switched to soft maple for the paint grade doors, and will not be going back to poplar. It is harder and has been more stable for me so far.

[Jim Becker]

I work with a lot of poplar (tulip poplar, to be specific) because a lot of it was harvested on my property and milled to lumber. It finishes well no matter how you choose to go; paint or dye/clear. There are often assumptions that it's only for paint grade and that's just not true. I've used both Target Coatings white water borne as well as Sherwin Williams ProClassic acrylic in white (the former sprayed; the latter brushed/rolled) with great results. My kitchen cabinets all have face frames of poplar and door/drawer frames of the same.