Contractor friend called me, said he had a little poplar left over
from a job, he would drop it off if I wanted it. Said sure. He
showed up with about 75 bdft of select poplar finish dimensioned to 1
x 6, and a few 1 x 4's, in lengths from 8' to 15'.

It is all perfect.

Generally, I've only used poplar for drawer sides, backs, dust
partition frames, and other internal uses for my cherry, oak, and
walnut furniture. I did do one sofa table for a womans beach house,
but it had some shell carvings attached and was painted white to match
the rest of her beach house furniture.

Has anyone used it for show, and what finish schedule seems to work
best. Hate to hide this pretty wood.

Frank

On Mar 30, 5:04 pm, Frank Boettcher wrote:
Contractor friend called me, said he had a little poplar left over
from a job, he would drop it off if I wanted it. Said sure. He
showed up with about 75 bdft of select poplar finish dimensioned to 1
x 6, and a few 1 x 4's, in lengths from 8' to 15'.

It is all perfect.

Generally, I've only used poplar for drawer sides, backs, dust
partition frames, and other internal uses for my cherry, oak, and
walnut furniture. I did do one sofa table for a womans beach house,
but it had some shell carvings attached and was painted white to match
the rest of her beach house furniture.

Has anyone used it for show, and what finish schedule seems to work
best. Hate to hide this pretty wood.

Frank

I've always felt that poplar had a bad reputation. I recently went to
a WW show up in Saratoga NY and there was a wood vendor there selling
a beautiful slab of poplar with a creamy dark swoosh running through
it. I did not buy it, but he had it on prominent display and it would
be wasted for use as a secondary wood. I also find that poplar works
beautifully, so I'd definitely get creative and have some fun making
something out of it!

On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:04:23 -0500, Frank Boettcher
wrote:

Has anyone used it for show, and what finish schedule seems to work
best. Hate to hide this pretty wood.

I've faked cherry with it quite convincingly.

While I wouldn't do it with furniture, I did it as trim.

Think "maple or birch" when finishing, as it blotches. My fake
cherry consisted of Solar Lux yellows and yellow orange dye stains
barrier coated with shellac, light brown pigment wiping stains, and
some color added to the clears to reach the final shades.

On the other hand, it makes GREAT drawer sides with no finish at all.

In article .com,
"Doug" wrote:

On Mar 30, 5:04 pm, Frank Boettcher wrote:
Contractor friend called me, said he had a little poplar left over
from a job, he would drop it off if I wanted it. Said sure. He
showed up with about 75 bdft of select poplar finish dimensioned to 1
x 6, and a few 1 x 4's, in lengths from 8' to 15'.

It is all perfect.

Generally, I've only used poplar for drawer sides, backs, dust
partition frames, and other internal uses for my cherry, oak, and
walnut furniture. I did do one sofa table for a womans beach house,
but it had some shell carvings attached and was painted white to match
the rest of her beach house furniture.

Has anyone used it for show, and what finish schedule seems to work
best. Hate to hide this pretty wood.

Frank

I've always felt that poplar had a bad reputation. I recently went to
a WW show up in Saratoga NY and there was a wood vendor there selling
a beautiful slab of poplar with a creamy dark swoosh running through
it. I did not buy it, but he had it on prominent display and it would
be wasted for use as a secondary wood. I also find that poplar works
beautifully, so I'd definitely get creative and have some fun making
something out of it!

This may sound weird, but I did all the dressers and night stands in the
master bed room in poplar and to finish them, I used 10 parts water to 1
part gray house paint (latex based) - then hosed it off. I painted the
mix on with a 4 inch brush. After hosing off, I let it dry and then used
4 coats of poly. The end result is that the gray shows thru on the grain
and in areas of sap wood. It gives the items a "sun baked" look
according to my wife. It is now more than 15 years old and still going
strong.

I built this "prototype" from Poplar and used General Finishes water
based Rosewood stain and hand rubbed shellac. It came out so beautiful
I keep it in my home.

http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Furniture/JL-BC-POP.htm




On Mar 30, 2:04 pm, Frank Boettcher wrote:
Contractor friend called me, said he had a little poplar left over
from a job, he would drop it off if I wanted it. Said sure. He
showed up with about 75 bdft of select poplar finish dimensioned to 1
x 6, and a few 1 x 4's, in lengths from 8' to 15'.

It is all perfect.

Generally, I've only used poplar for drawer sides, backs, dust
partition frames, and other internal uses for my cherry, oak, and
walnut furniture. I did do one sofa table for a womans beach house,
but it had some shell carvings attached and was painted white to match
the rest of her beach house furniture.

Has anyone used it for show, and what finish schedule seems to work
best. Hate to hide this pretty wood.

Frank

On 30 Mar 2007 22:31:46 -0700, "SonomaProducts.com"
wrote:

I built this "prototype" from Poplar and used General Finishes water
based Rosewood stain and hand rubbed shellac. It came out so beautiful
I keep it in my home.

http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Furniture/JL-BC-POP.htm


Very nice. finish looks almost exactly like a solid mahogany
barristers book case my Grandfather made many years ago.

Thanks to all for the ideas. Think I'll experiment with some finishes
and use this very nice wood for something that shows. I currently
need a bedroom set to replace kid's stuff (grown and gone). Maybe
that is what it will become.

Frank



On Mar 30, 2:04 pm, Frank Boettcher wrote:
Contractor friend called me, said he had a little poplar left over
from a job, he would drop it off if I wanted it. Said sure. He
showed up with about 75 bdft of select poplar finish dimensioned to 1
x 6, and a few 1 x 4's, in lengths from 8' to 15'.

It is all perfect.

Generally, I've only used poplar for drawer sides, backs, dust
partition frames, and other internal uses for my cherry, oak, and
walnut furniture. I did do one sofa table for a womans beach house,
but it had some shell carvings attached and was painted white to match
the rest of her beach house furniture.

Has anyone used it for show, and what finish schedule seems to work
best. Hate to hide this pretty wood.

Frank

"Frank Boettcher" wrote in message

Very nice. finish looks almost exactly like a solid mahogany
barristers book case my Grandfather made many years ago.

A gel stain works quite well on poplar.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 2/20/07

A few years ago a neighbor had their stairway replace and left a big pile of
flawless spruce on the curb. I couldn't leave it there, but couldn't find a
use for it either.
Last month a build a table to go behind our couch. I made the top out of
mahogany, with the rest out of the spruce stained to sorta look like the
mahogany. Since no one ever sees it, it is fine. Saved a few bucks.
"Frank Boettcher" wrote in message
...

Contractor friend called me, said he had a little poplar left over
from a job, he would drop it off if I wanted it. Said sure. He
showed up with about 75 bdft of select poplar finish dimensioned to 1
x 6, and a few 1 x 4's, in lengths from 8' to 15'.

It is all perfect.

Generally, I've only used poplar for drawer sides, backs, dust
partition frames, and other internal uses for my cherry, oak, and
walnut furniture. I did do one sofa table for a womans beach house,
but it had some shell carvings attached and was painted white to match
the rest of her beach house furniture.

Has anyone used it for show, and what finish schedule seems to work
best. Hate to hide this pretty wood.

Frank

On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 06:59:44 -0500, Frank Boettcher
wrote:

On 30 Mar 2007 22:31:46 -0700, "SonomaProducts.com"
wrote:

I built this "prototype" from Poplar and used General Finishes water
based Rosewood stain and hand rubbed shellac. It came out so beautiful
I keep it in my home.

http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Furniture/JL-BC-POP.htm


Very nice. finish looks almost exactly like a solid mahogany
barristers book case my Grandfather made many years ago.

It is a very nice piece, but mahogany is a wood that poplar dosen't
imitate all that well. You can color it the same, but the pore
structure looks totally different.