Finding Poplar Heartwood?

[Mark Versprille]

This seems to be the busiest forum so maybe someone here can give me some clues on how to get dark poplar heart wood. Let me begin by confessing I am one cheap-sons-of-a-seadog. That's what got me working with poplar. But then I fell in love with the black, purple heart wood. Trying to find it has become a real pain in the butt. The 8 or 10 lumber yards I have scouted through may have one of two boards but they try to avoid the dark poplar. Since all of them consider poplar a paint grade wood it's the pale stuff they want to stock. Even the veneer producers charge a premium for the pale sap wood while discounting the mineral intruded dark stuff. The dark stuff has got to be somewhere. How would you look for it?

[mark page]

Evidently you don't live near the KC area, cause that is all the local Borgs have here. You'd be in poplar heaven livin' around these parts.

[Mark Versprille]

Jersey to KC is a bit more of a haul then I am prepared for, even for perfect grained poplar.

[Prashun Patel]

Mark,

All in, you might find it to be more expensive to your door than the 'finer' hardwoods...

I'm a seadog too! Best seadog advice: get a planer

If you really love yr poplar, then you might try yr hand at mixing aniline dyes. It shouldn't be that hard to achieve.

I loves me my poplar for shop and hidden stuff (nice and stable), but I find it stringy to machine and a little too soft to sand or scrape well. If yr going for an in-the-wood feel/finish, poplar's a tough way to go.

[Mark Versprille]

I was in the Nav, Shawn, but I'm no sea dog. The "Needs of the Navy" determined that the GRUNTS had to have me as a corpsman. It was 1970 after all. I didn't see a ship from the time I raised my hand in NorVa till processing out at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Dyes and stains can serve a purpose, but I'll never be as good at it as nature. I can't help but think what i want is out there. And since I am a cheap SOB, I want to find it in the Borg box like Mr. Page indicates. And since the good wood workers want the pale grained poplar to hide or paint, there should be some pretty big stacks of what I want gathering dust someplace.

[Lee Schierer]

I was under the impresson that the streaks of color in poplar were due to minerals in the soil, not heart wood or sap wood related. Also, the greens and purples tend to fade to brown after exposure to light for a short time.

[Lee Mitchell]

Check the yellow pages to see if you have a veneer plant within driving distance. The one near us gives away their cores and any wood that isn't suitable to run through their slicing equipment. This can be butt ends of logs that are too large, sections with knot holes, etc. When I called about their castoffs, they told me to bring a dump truck and they'd load all I wanted.

If you're able to mill or have it milled for you, this could be a good source for many types of wood, including poplar with "character".

Hope this idea helps, a bit.

[Julian Nicks]

Your best bet is to check out what the local sawers have. I scored some poplar with wild coloring from one a few months back, for 1.50 a board foot.

[Jim Becker]

Poplar's heartwood isn't really dark...the dark purple and black you sometimes find is mineral staining and environmental. Only one of the 20 or so poplar trees that I've had milled of my property have ever exhibited it and even then it was minimal and only near the stump. Tulip Poplar/Yellow Poplar (a member of the magnolia family actually) typically has a green-cast to the heartwood when fresh cut. That turns to a pleasant brown with oxidation and time. The sapwood is somewhat "white" and gets a bit tan with time and oxidation, contrasting nicely with the heartwood.

[Mark Versprille]

Poplar's heartwood isn't really dark...the dark purple and black you sometimes find is mineral staining and environmental. Tulip Poplar/Yellow Poplar (a member of the magnolia family actually) typically has a green-cast to the heartwood when fresh cut. That turns to a pleasant brown with oxidation and time. The sapwood is somewhat "white" and gets a bit tan with time and oxidation, contrasting nicely with the heartwood.

I had heard/read the grain colors I like so much are mineral inclusions. I just assumed it was related to the trunk structure as well. Live an learn. These pics are are some things I made around Christmas, and show the type of poplar I am looking for. As soon as my camera charges up I'll add a pic of a mail box I mad a few years ago that really shows Why I fell in love with dark grained poplar.

[Prashun Patel]

I see what you mean - especially in the kitchen cabinets. So unique and cozy and sophisticatedly rustic! Bravo.

[Mark Versprille]

I love this wood. It's got so much drama it hides all my mistakes. Why didn't the mailbox pic show? I've tried three times to get the mailbox pic posted but no joy. I guess the server doesn't think it's a purtty as I do.

[Mark Versprille]

Ah!!! There it is! Oh, and Jim. You are spot on about how the the colors change with exposure to light. Some of the deep brown tones near next to the nearly black ones were purple before it went on the deck rail. I guess poplar just wants that George Hamilton California tan. I like to think of poplar with this type of grain as the cheapskates black walnut.

[Prashun Patel]

...the cheapskates black walnut.

In color perhaps. But never in grain!!!

[Andrew Long]

Mark,

Try contacting Hearne Hardwoods just outside Oxford, PA. They saw a lot of Popular and alway have quite a bit on hand. Let them know what your looking for, and there's a good chance they can pull it as the cut logs, or definately pull wood they have dried and stacked in the barns.