Bread Box with unique wood

[Ron Blaise]

Hi Folks:
Wanted to show you a breadbox I made from some very unusual Yellow Popular. Ive never seen such colors before. I got the wood from a ridge site in east Tennessee so it must have been the minerals in the soil. I haven't put any finish on it yet so this is just the natural color. Thanks for looking.
Ron

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/WoodySouth/Breadbox-2.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/WoodySouth/Breadbox-1.jpg

[Mike Parzych]

Now that is NICE! I'm a big fan of unusual pieces of common woods. The dark areas look almost black. I still have some curly soft maple that is colored by ground water minerals, but it's not as nice as that poplar.

[Gary Keedwell]

Ron, that is a beauty. I purchased a big bundle of poplar last year and have found tons of uses for it. It is very stable and a pleasure to machine, but I haven't come across anything like you found. Please post a picture sometime after you put a finish on, OK? Any idea what you gonna use?

Gary K.;)

[Joe Spear]

Poplar can be very beautiful. A couple years ago I was paying for my purchase at a home center when I looked across the counter and saw dark colored board. It was a four-foot-long, thirteen-inch-wide piece of poplar. It was dark all over, black, dark greenish brown, and purple, with a pronounced grain. I used it to make some clocks and several sets of bookends.

[Jim Becker]

He builds a better bread box... :D :D :D

Seriously (and it is a very nice breadbox!), the coloration you have is due to mineral staining. It's not the "natural" color of the poplar, but is induced by soil conditions. You've put it to use very well, too. The greenish tinge in the lighter areas will brown after a short period of time and exposure to UV, but that still compliments the staining wonderfully!

[Rod Torgeson]

Ron.....I have found some wood like that in pallets before, but not enough to make a breadbox like that. Very nice breadbox. Thanks for posting.

[glenn bradley]

WOW! Just oil that thing with a very clear finish. Let those patterns show through!

[Dan Forman]

Very cool. I've heard of a purple hue poplar before, but never seen it. You have put that wood to a good use.

Dan

[Guy Germaine]

That is called Rainbow Poplar. If I'm not mistaken, the colors come from various minerals in the soil that make the wood turn colors.