Poplar doors. Laminated or solid?

[Eric D Matson]

I am getting ready to build some interior doors out of poplar to paint. Would it be stable to use 8/4 poplar and dimension to 1 3/4" or glue up laminations?

[Jamie Buxton]

Are these frame-and-panel doors, so the 8/4 poplar you're talking about is just the frame, right?

[Eric D Matson]

Correct. That would be for the frame.

[Mel Fulks]

I ve seen solid poplar doors in old houses that were just fine ,open or closed. Some of them 8 footers. I can get the stiles perfectly straight with poplar from a good dealer. Don't think anyone can when the stuff is crooked and twisted and poorly
handled.
If you have confidence in yourself and your machines ,I see no reason to not use the poplar. Sometimes architects will
over rule anything for stiles except "stave core".

[Mark Bolton]

A lot (to me) would depend on the grade and your confidence in your supplier/sawyer/drier

[John TenEyck]

If the wood is at EMC with your shop, sure, why not? Look for fat 8/4 stock and mill it flat and plane it oversize, then set it on edge and let it rest for a day or two. If it's still flat then plane it to your finished thickness and you should be good to go from there. If the wood is stable it doesn't matter if it's one piece, laminated, or stave core + veneer.

Note that I said "at EMC with your shop". If you start with wood that's not in balance with your shop it's probably going to move as you work it, and that almost never ends well.

John

[mreza Salav]

I built 31 interior doors out of Maple. After milling, glue-up sanding through drum sander etc, I ended up mostly close to 1 5/8" than 1 3/4" (maybe 1 11/16").
8/4 if it is not rough is rarely 2" (typically 1 15/16 or less).

[Richard Coers]

Typically interior doors are 1 3/8". At my hardwood source, rough sawn 6/4 gets you interior door stock. But I prefer soft maple for paint grade, not as fuzzy.

[Mark Bolton]

Typically interior doors are 1 3/8". At my hardwood source, rough sawn 6/4 gets you interior door stock. But I prefer soft maple for paint grade, not as fuzzy.

1 3/8" is typical interior door thickness with 1 3/4" being a much higher quality option. No idea about the OP but you wont find 1 3/8" interior doors in most high end homes and forget about a commercial application, never 1 3/8".

[Mel Fulks]

I think Mark accurately describes the modern idea of doors. But I've noticed that the Federal period houses often have
interior doors that are only 1and 3/8 ...or even 1 and1/4. And one doesn't usually notice it on first look around ,since
those houses almost never have any heavy thick details.

[Jim Becker]

Either way works just fine if the material is stable. The last one I built I laminated, but that was because it made the mortises easy...no cutting them. This was before I had my Domino XL. I did that door at 1.5" since I could also do the groove for the panels at the same time as the lamination, too. :)

[Lee Schierer]

Too bad you aren't closer to Ohio. Baird Brothers (https://www.bairdbrothers.com/Solid-Poplar-Doors-W16C102.aspx) makes solid wood doors that are excellent quality. I have 9 of their 6 panel oak doors in my house and have not had a problem with any of them. When I looked at making the doors, I couldn't purchase the lumber for the price of an assembled pre-hung oak door from Baird. I don't know if they ship as far west as you are.

[Jared Sankovich]

Solid should be fine. Depending on your supplier you should be able to get decent material. The closest yard to me carries QS poplar in 6/4, 7/4 and 8/4 just for door production.

As for Baird, they are priced well as long as you want one of the styles that they stock. If for example you want a 5 panel horizontal with pg sticking and historically accurate slight raise in the panels, they are not dirt cheap.

[Ronald Blue]

Typically interior doors are 1 3/8". At my hardwood source, rough sawn 6/4 gets you interior door stock. But I prefer soft maple for paint grade, not as fuzzy.

Where do you get your lumber Richard? I'm not terribly far from you. I've never been there but I'm fully aware of Corsaw Hardwood Lumber.

[Richard Coers]

Where do you get your lumber Richard? I'm not terribly far from you. I've never been there but I'm fully aware of Corsaw Hardwood Lumber.
I haven't bought any for years, but always purchased at Pekin Hardwood/Woodworkers Shop. Not sure how much rough sawn they have anymore.

[johnny means]

I like to rip my rails in half, flip one half, then glue the two haves back together. This perfectly cancels out any bows. I actually use this to straighten badly bowed boards and it works every time.

[Patrick Walsh]

Personally I find poplar to soft for doors and face frames.

I like solid and like was already said if you mill it and leave it a couple days and it didn’t move your good.

People use it and it’s fine but it dents to easy for me.

Is a dream to work with even in comparison to soft maple. But even soft maple is much harder and thus resistant to the abuse a door gets.

I understand like 90% of commercial high end doors going into custom homes are skinned with MDF and it’s much softer than even polar. But I’m of the opinion it’s all kinda crap..

[Jim Becker]

Poplar is a good alternative to pine, however... :)

[Patrick Walsh]

Stop playing with me Jim ;)

Don’t get me started on pine...
‘
Poplar is a good alternative to pine, however... :)

[Jim Becker]

I have to say that the clear white pine I recently used for those locker doors for a client was actually a pleasure to work with. But I'm with you on "pine in general"...not my favorite thing. I have worked with a lot of tulip poplar, however, because about 3000 bd ft of it was milled on my property when the septic system went in after we purchased the property. The price was right!

[David Kumm]

I'm with Patrick. Poplar is softer than vacuum cleaners. Dave

[Warren Lake]

old guy said 1000 things one was "pine is a thankless wood" still there is likely lots of nice old furniture built in it with lots of character to it

[Jared Sankovich]

I'm with Patrick. Poplar is softer than vacuum cleaners. Dave

The same could be said about most paint grade doors or trim for that matter

[Mel Fulks]

The North Eastern white pine is terrific stuff and was the first choice for many. It was "imported" into the South. Holds
up outdoors better than most other pines and works beautifully. Stable. Was often used ,especially for sash. The worst
pine I've used was called "Idaho white pine", soft and fuzzy. I don't know how well it does out doors.