I have a chance to get a load of poplar for next to nothing, however heres the catch. It is only in strips 2" wide and i'd have to glue it up to turn........is that a good practice or no? does it splinter or tear out like other woods? thanks REMOVE "NOSPAM" FROM ADDY
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I believe there are several kinds of poplar, but the two kinds I have experienced are fast growing, light and porous, making it very poor stuff for turning.
Bjarte
The legs on this are glued-up poplar, but 2x4 sized pieces:
In my experience, it's not a bad turning wood if you keep your tools extremely sharp (which is a good habit with any wood) and you don't mind going through several (many) steps of sanding. I'm not sure how it would work out for glued up pieces. Here are some examples of what the results might be:
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Poplar makes good salad bowls but is kind of difficult to get a smooth cut on dried wood. (from the log). Depending on the length of your strips, why not glue them up into wider "boards" and use them for shelves and other utility type items?
Jim
DJ Delorie wrote:
Poplar is a hard wood - it is not very dramatic, but it can be used for things that will be painted or have other surface treatments like burning or chainsawing done to it - maybe Phil Brennion would like to use it for one of his gunpowder pots - it looks great when covered with latex paint - see Hap Skawa's work - lots of poplar lots of paint.
The problem with Poplar is it is a soft hardwood - great when used for baords, but not for the finish surfaces. I have my lathe bed mounted on a poplar board - works great, and is getting covered with oils, wd40 and lacquer - so I guess it is having a good covering coat applied!
My advise is use Poplar for practice or painted pieces - otherwise, it would make great firewood!
Ray
Short answer - if it's Tulip "Poplar," which is not a poplar, it has a tendency to crush. If it's Aspen, which is a true poplar (name was already in use) it runs to fuzz. Both will turn.
I like the members of the Salicaceae, willow, poplar, even cottonwood - to turn, not as an inhabitant of the front yard. They run to interlocked grain, which means it's almost a sin to paint them and hide the chatoyance possible with proper finish. Neighbor gave me a couple which had been increasing their lean into his pasture a few years back. The straight portions went as standard bowls, with a bit more thickness, or as interest bowls cut to Poplar is a hard wood - it is not very dramatic, but it can be used for
I have seen Poplar, mostly tulip poplar, used to create segmented turnings that were then totally covered with various mediums, metal flakes/paints, and/or complete texturing. I haven't seen too many poplar bowls that had much figure but there are exceptions.
If you have the patience to do the glue-ups I would do it and see what the results are.
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