Bad poplar board

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laflippin
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by laflippin »

poppy lid 1.JPG
I mentioned that I was using poplar in a Zank V-Inlay Project that required green foliage for a California poppy....I just got back to that, and applied a coat of UV-resistant (I hope!!!) polyurethane to the first two examples. I thought the poplar looks okay, maybe not green enough but satisfactory, while the polyurethane seems to have darkened the padauk blossoms more than I'd really like. Anyway, a picture of one of them is attached for your viewing pleasure.

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mtylerfl
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by mtylerfl »

I remember seeing that, Lee. Great job and I like the green Poplar you used!
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Xxray
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by Xxray »

I'm a big fan of poplar, get the right board and you get a nice marble look [for sure stay away from the greenish ones]. Would not classify it as a great carving wood like purpleheart, walnut but looks like possibly there was more to this disaster than the wood itself.
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by Mobius »

mtylerfl wrote:I hope they floss afterwards...
They don't need to floss, the poplar does it for them.
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by scottp55 »

Quite possible :D
Just look how fibrous it is.
b need to reduce chip size.jpg
Thought by feeding them coffer beans I could increase their speed to reduce chip size....
They ignored the beans.....Barbaric!!
(Or maybe they preferred a lighter roast?) :D
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by Dan m »

Here's my first and only experience cutting poplar, I just thought it cut similar to pine. It turned out how I wanted so I'd use it again.

Dan
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mtylerfl
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by mtylerfl »

Very nice, Dan.

I think Poplar varies quite a bit from batch-to-batch. Kind of like Cedar I get here locally, which seems to always be very “stringy” and carves terribly. Other parts of the country have “good” Cedar readily available and the results are beautiful.

Looks like there are over 30 species of wood called “Poplar”. Sometimes we get a good batch and sometimes not.
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by laflippin »

Thanks for the kind words, Michael. I did run into the "extreme fuzzies" challenge noted by others, and the CNC chipped out a big piece in one of the runs, but....when you actually need green colored wood poplar seems to be the only game in town. By the way, I did get in touch with Ethan at Ocooch Hardwoods and he kindly offered to personally select the greenest-looking poplar boards in his shop for my next project. Got 'em on order as we speak.
Lee

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Xxray
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by Xxray »

I have found home depot to have a consistent quality of poplar that machines well. Often a drab selection looks wise though, I have gotten some jaw dropping wood there before but that doesn't happen too often.
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by scottp55 »

Just thought this interesting Lee.....AFTER Michael got me curious enough to search, AND found my most of my local "Poplar" IS "Popular" as Gary mentioned:)

"Although the wood from Populus is known as poplar wood, a common high-quality hardwood "poplar" with a greenish colour is actually from an unrelated genus Liriodendron. Populus wood is a lighter, more porous material. "

I have the "lighter,more porous material" here. One of the first things one does here when building, is cut down all "Popples" within striking range of the the house.
(shallow roots and quick growing Primary growth tree..lots of blow downs)
(good thing also as the beavers felled several dozen on the far shore of pond as it's their first choice here for big stuff)

+1 for Ethan at Ocooch. ALWAYS called and waited for his return call because of excellent service(and a few times being able to get thin stock from the same lumber for "scroll saw ready" for consistency of button appearance).
scott

A very popular saying among cabinet makers and finish carpenters here is upon completing a job, and asking how the customer liked it, is ..............
"I might as well have made it out of Poplar for all they cared!"

HUGE variance in species and where it's grown apparently!
I've learned my lesson well. You can't please everyone,so you have to please yourself
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by Rcnewcomb »

I take back what I said about this piece of poplar.

<blush>
The reason for the poor cut quality was that the newly installed spindle was spinning counter-clockwise. oops. :oops:
</blush>
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by mtylerfl »

Rcnewcomb wrote:I take back what I said about this piece of poplar.

<blush>
The reason for the poor cut quality was that the newly installed spindle was spinning counter-clockwise. oops. :oops:
</blush>
Oh my. This is hilarious! Look what you got us all doin' - we were having so much fun!
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laflippin
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by laflippin »

Regardless of Randall's blushing update, the poplar (well, that's what the label said, Scott.... :D ) I used for my inlay project did also give lots of fuzzies. Because the wood is pretty soft, and the male inlay workpiece was pretty delicate in this instance, I spent a bit of time going over the freshly carved pieces with a medium-stiffness toothbrush....

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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by Rcnewcomb »

It cuts better when the bit is turning the correct direction. I've been working with CNC machines for 14 years but this is the first time I've dealt with this error.
GreenManIMG_0557.jpg
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Re: Bad poplar board

Post by Xxray »

Glad you figured it out, I thought there was something amiss - Takes a man to admit error.
Doug

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