Poplar Pen Box

[Kurt Aebi]

I made this Pen Box from mineral stained "Purple-Hearted" Tulip (Yellow) Poplar that was cut from a tree on my father's farm in SW Penna.

I previuosly posted the Ash Burl Pen set that I made for myself, also from a tree from my father's farm and decided to make myself a Pen Box for it. THanks Dennis Peacock and other's for their assistance on how to make it. It looks nice, but I'll bet the ebony knife box of Dennis' will make it look rather insignificant - but hey, ya gotta start somewhere! :D

I am not sure if the deep purple color will come out correctly in the picture, but any of you aout there that have been exposed to the mineral stained yellow poplar can sure appreciate how it looks in person. I just hope it maintains the purple tint for some time to come.

Thanks for looking.

[Donnie Raines]

So how did you turn that????.... ;) :D

[Chris Padilla]

Nice, Kurt. If you hadn't told us it was poplar (stained or not), I would have guess it was air-dried walnut. I have pieces in my stack that look exactly like the poplar. The ash burl and poplar work well together.

[Dick Parr]

Very nice Kurt, looks good. Did you use a bull nose router bit and plung it?

[Greg Tatum]

Looks really nice....the color cool :cool:
Greg

[Michael Stafford]

I have used the purple poplar before. It looks great for a while then turns a muddy brown. It can be delayed if you keep it out of the light. Best bet a finish with a UV block in it. A very nice box in any event.

[Jeff Mohr]

I know this is an old post and sorry to dig it up but....

Does anyone have suggestions/plans (or can point me in the right direction) on making a box like this? I assume it is a plunge router technique but does anyone have specifics?

By the way, that is a nice box Kurt.

[Jeff Mohr]

Anyone, anyone? Come on...I know I'm a newbie here but I'm trying to learn and want to read up on stuff before I take a machine to wood and do something dumb! ;)