pine or poplar for painted finish?

[Mark Vaughn]

would there be any advantage to using poplar instead of pine for a painted finish? i would save about $50 on the cabinets i'm building if i use pine (which is not a big factor) thanks

[Jesse Cloud]

Not a huge advantage, but a couple of things. Lumber yards vary, but if you are buying pine that is as clear of knots as poplar, you may well wind up paying more for the pine. Otherwise, there is a slight disadvantage that your pine will have some knots and they will show after painting. Another small disadvantage is that pine is pretty hard on your cutting tools. You will want to clean the knives/blades on your saws, jointer, planer, etc well after this project.

Both pine and poplar take paint very well.

[Al Wasser]

As Jesse says clear straight pine is costly and hard to find. Poplar is a little harder in my view and you don't any pitch to mess with. If the cost twixt the two is somewhat close I would use the poplar. If you are painting you might also want to consider some clear plywood

[Jim Becker]

Poplar and soft maple are often used for painted work because they provide an excellent surface and a bit more hardness than pine. Depending upon what kind of pine it is, movement/shrinkage may also be more of a factor as many sources don't dry it in the same way that hardwoods are dried...pine is most often considered construction lumber in that respect and is much "wetter" when you buy it.

I'll go so far to say that I used "knotty poplar" (I call it that 'cause it had knots in it, rather than being completely clear) to simulate pine in an armoire project I did a couple years ago with great results!

[Steven Wilson]

Go with the poplar, it's harder and more dent resistant than pine. Maple and birch are good choices too (depends on your area).

[Ken Salisbury]

If you have a choice spend the little extra and use poplar.

[Steve Schoene]

I really like the superior workability of maple compared to poplar. Too often poplar can get "fuzzy".

[Jim Becker]

I really like the superior workability of maple compared to poplar. Too often poplar can get "fuzzy".

Are you referring to tulip poplar or the aspens that are sometimes called poplar? The latter is pretty fuzzy, but I've never had any of that with tulip poplar. As a matter of fact, there is about 1000 bd ft of it sitting in the addition ready to be made into all the interior trim...

[Doug Shepard]

Poplar makes painting almost fun. Paint really flows well onto poplar and often you can get away with a single coat (but 2 is still better). Pine usually still looks blotchy due to less even paint absorption and really needs more coats before it looks right. Plus you wont have pitch to clean off your blades/bits with poplar.
I've also not noticed a poplar fuzziness but aspen definitely has the fuzzies.

[Mark Vaughn]

i keep hearing about poplar warping though, is that a big enough problem that i should not use it? i'm buying it from hd if that makes any difference.

[Steve Schoene]

DO NOT BUY IT FROM HOME DEPOT. While a good piece of lumber may mistakenly be found in the Home Depot assortment, you can't be confident that there aren't problems with any board you buy. There will often be drying defects that aren't visible, such as case hardened boards that pinch blades or curl when they are cut. You may be able to see honeycomb if you look closely but it may be subtle on the surface. There may be many boards that contain the pith (center) of the tree, making them prone to warping and of lower strength.

[Mark Vaughn]

the poplar at hd actually looks pretty good but i've never bought it from there so i guess i'll take your advice on that because they sell some UGLY pine

[Jim Becker]

Mark, I have personally experienced what Steve describes from HD poplar, although it was quite a few years ago. The best place to buy material for woodworking projects is a lumber dealer or sawmill, IMHO.