Uses for Poplar

[John Miliunas]

Ahem. Yeah, OK. The newbie in me is really showing through, but I guess that's the only way one learns. And I know that the good folks here at SMC won't laugh me off the forum. (I hope.) Anyhow, I've got an opportunity to latch on to some nice looking Poplar, in the rough. It's about 5/4 and the boards run from about 5" wide on up. They've been air dried and look pretty clear, from what I saw. Now, I *know* that Poplar is a mainstay for drawers and areas typically "out of sight", but does anyone out there have other uses for it? I can nab this stuff for 40 cents a bd/ft and he's got a LOT of it (@1200 bd/ft). He might let me take a partial load, but is looking at getting rid of, at least, 1/2 of it to make some room in his storage shed. Yay/nay? He's also got @1000 bd/ft of Oak, almost 4/4 at a buck a bd/ft.

While I'm at it, if there are any nearby to/in Wisconsin folks who'd be interested, I'd be happy to hook you up with the guy. He doesn't do this for a business, just had a bunch leftover from a harvest he did on his property in order to build his own house.

[Dr. Zack Jennings]

Storage Can you store all this wood? If you have to store it outside with the chance that it will deteriorate or get bugs in it before you can use it, it ain't no bargain. 40 cents a board foot is cheap. I'd like 2-300 feet.

Dennis Peacock has made his childrens furniture out of it.... no stain, just lacquer. Perhaps he will chime in.

Poplar is a prefered wood for painted cabinets and trim... although I've never used any.

I have passed up several deals like red oak 1000 board feet at $1 a foot and a whole bundle of 20' western cedar because they want you to take it all. Storage is a problem and spending tool money on wood that may not be used for 10 years. I'd say: try to think it out logically..... if you can afford the wood and still afford everything else you want and if you can store it inside and still have storage for wood you really need for future projects.... get it.

Another Thought If your going to plane 5/4 boards to 3/4, you might be better off buying just what you need, kiln dried and already surfaced & thickness planed. If you can use thick boards.... fine. I planed a lot of 5/4 Cypress to 1 inch for a deck, it was a lot of work. It's a nice deck but I'll have to see how well it lasts.

[Richard Allen]

Hi John

Poplar is great for jigs, doing prototypes, anything you want to paint, shop cabinets

Poplar is, also nice when there is some color in it.

$240 of jig wood??? And you have to store all that wood. Which is the same thing the guy giving the offer is dealing with.

BTW I would most definetly jump on it. I figure poplar is worth about up to $2.00 bd/ft so in that respect would I buy 120 bd/ft of poplar for jigs and such?

Thanks

[John Miliunas]

Thanks for the insight, guys! I'm really leaning toward getting some of it, if he's willing to part with less partial quantities. I figured I could use a couple hundred ft. of the Oak and now, hearing about all the tremendous stuff the Poplar could be used for, I figure another 250-300 bd/ft of it, as well. Storage at my end isn't an issue. Heck, if I had the $$ and near-future use for it, I could easily take it all and keep all of it under cover. Me thinks I'll have to give the fella' a call! Muchos gracias for the info!

[Mark Hulette]

John-

Valid points brought up so far. I've used poplar on several projects that were painted and have been well pleased. A lot of it has a green cast to it so that's not too good unless you're pretty good with staining (which I'm not yet). It's nice for face frames, too.

Don't know if you have little ones but it makes sturdy kids furniture as well. Just some thoughts.

If storage isn't an issue, I would buy as much as you can store safely long term. The Red Oak sounds like a pretty good deal too.


PS- How's the Grizz Incident working out?

[Dave Avery]

John,

Not much to add other than it works very well..... hard enough so that it holds an edge, but not so hard as to blunt cutting tools. I've made several pieces from poplar, inlcuding bunk beds for the ankle biters.

One other thing. Rather than painting, I've used an opaque gel stain with great success. It's made to be applied and wiped off, but I just apply a rather thick coat with a foam brush and let it dry for a couple of days. It has a poly built in, so it's an easy, one-step finish for those pieces that are going to be abused. Fine furniture... no, but it has its place.

In sum - jump on it. $.40/bf is 15-20% of CT prices. Dave.

[Phil Phelps]

.... is poplar. I bought # 1 common and made all the cabinets and doors from it. I like it. Hard enough and takes paint very well. I buy it all the time. As for the quality of the lumber you are goin to purchase, look it over. Sounds good, anyway.

[Jim Becker]

Poplar (Yellow Poplar/Tulipwood/Liriodendron tulipifera)is "most versatile" when it comes to both utility use and for real furniture. I recently saw a wonderful drop leaf table dated to 1874 made entirely of poplar (except for one walnut leg) that a neighbor owned. It was an incredible piece of furniture with a wonderful deep color. Unfortunately some of the color was made a lot deeper when their house burnt down, but that's a different story altogether.

I happen to have a LOT of poplar as I had a bunch of trees milled when our septic system was installed back in 2000. I build just about anything with it, including shop fixtures, painted items, prototypes, all my drawers and yes, "fine furniture". Below is a picture of some of the furniture I made for my nieces and it's 100% poplar. (More pics on my site of the same) Clear wood can take the place of maple or cherry very easily with a good "dye job" and knotty poplar is an excellent substitute for knotty pine for more rustic pieces...and it's stronger than pine, too.

The green heartwood will turn to a nice warm brown via UV exposure. The sapwood is generally very light in color and stays that way. Occasional purple mineral streaking can sometimes add a dramatic look to a panel if used creatively.

Since I work a lot with 5/4 stock that wouldn't hinder me from buying it, but you need to judge what your projects will benefit from. (I resaw thicker boards for drawer stock and other items)

[John Miliunas]

Jim, once again, you've inspired me! Just tried calling the guy, but he's not home right now. The more posts I read, the heavier the scale starts leaning to more Poplar! Thanks!

[Jim Becker]

Hey, it's not the be-all, end-all species, but it sure is nice to work with and you can't beat the price. For prototypes, alone, I'd not be without it. My real love is cherry and I work with that whenever I can. But with so much poplar on board (as well as about 1000' of black walnut from the same milling session) I'll use it wherever I can!

[David LaRue]

I concur, I too like poplar, mainly for the cost aspect of it. I mostly started using it to learn on since then I don't fell bad when I goof up. :-)

With some work, you can stain it white, and make it look like maple, and with even more work you can make it look like cherry, In fact, there is a good article on making it look like cherry in a magazine a few years back.. I can dig it up if your are interested. The best thing I learned was preconditioning it by placing the wood outside in the sun for a few hours. The green variegation's seem to fade, and the wood looks for uniform.

Dave

[John Miliunas]

Originally posted by David LaRue
I concur, I too like poplar, mainly for the cost aspect of it. I mostly started using it to learn on since then I don't fell bad when I goof up. :-)

With some work, you can stain it white, and make it look like maple, and with even more work you can make it look like cherry, In fact, there is a good article on making it look like cherry in a magazine a few years back.. I can dig it up if your are interested. The best thing I learned was preconditioning it by placing the wood outside in the sun for a few hours. The green variegation's seem to fade, and the wood looks for uniform.

Dave

Thanks for the additional info, David! Yeah, "not feeling bad when I goof up..." is a REAL good reason to use it. I'm definitely in the learning mode and at $0.40 a bd/ft makes it less painful!

Sounds like "giving it a tan", as it were, is a great tip. Yes, if you get a chance, I'd like to get some more info on giving it the Cherry look. Like Jim Becker, Cherry is probably my favorite flavor to work with (with Maple & Walnut a real close 2nd & 3rd.).

[Jim Fuller]

If you have a moisture meter (use it).. I buy a lot of air dried lumber, and I have had problem with shrinkage. Then I bought me a good moisture meter and solved that problem.
All that said I like poplar. In addition to furniture, it also makes good structural material if you have a small construction project you are planning.
What I do with my air dried lumber, never dry enough for furniture for me, usually around 12 to 17 precent, I lightly plane the spots I check and write the value on the wood at the spot I check. Then I put the lumber in my green house or upstairs, depending on the project. I keep a check on the moisture and when it reaches 10 to 11% I use it. Now I check all my lumber and do this only on peices for currently planned projects.

[Ken Salisbury]

Like Jim Becker I have made a lots of furniture using poplar. As has already been said - it is an extremely stable wood -- the reason most fine furniture makers use it for drawers.

When staining poplar I found a more even look can be obtained by using a wood conditioner prior to staining. I use Minwax Wood Conditioner.

I keep a considerable amount of poplar on hand and use it in place of common lumber for all sorts of things. I consider poplar as the most versitile lumber there is.

[Dave Avery]

Originally posted by Jim Becker
I build just about anything with it, including shop fixtures, painted items, prototypes, all my drawers and yes, "fine furniture".

Ok Jim, you got me, sort of My comment about "fine furniture" was more of a comment about gel stained kids bedroom furniture not being "fine" than whether you can use poplar for fine furniture, as you have abviously done very well.

What saying is that if I'm going to spend my limited labor time on something, most of the time it's going to be on cherry. That's not to say that poplar is inferior, just less to my liking. If $'s were a bigger concern, I'm sure I'd feel much differently.

All the best. Dave.