On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 00:11:12 GMT, "toller" wrote:

I have never had any problems with birch plywood, but poplar looks like crap
when stained.

snip

Maybe I just got lucky, but a recent project was a cabinet and drawers
for my router stand, using 1/4" popular for faces and trim and I love
the way it came out..

The poplar that I found, (lowes, unfortunately), had an interesting
grain... almost a green tint that was pretty cool if I picked the
boards that had a 50/50 green & normal grain..
Stained them a very light "suntan" with 3 coats of minwax rubbing poly
and got a really nice look.. (at least the neighbors and my wife think
so, but they're my cheering section *g*)