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method2madness — Poplar Bowl
Published: 2010-01-09 22:05:51 +0000 UTC; Views: 149; Favourites: 0; Downloads: 2
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Description
My first attempt at turning a full size bowl. It's about 10" by 4". I used Yellow Poplar because it's cheap. I like the color and grain of it but the end grain is kinda furry and doesn't finish well. I really nead to wipe it down with mineral and then the grain should really pop. The next one I do is probably going to be beechwood. Apparently it turns well when it's green and there is plenty in the local woods...Not so sure how interested I am in trudging through the snow with a chainsaw right now though.Related content
Comments: 13
you should trudge through the snow cause I gotta sludge thru the rain to get mine
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sometimes we have to go out of our way to find the best timber
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Well on your way to being a great woodturner. I am interested in one thing in particular though, when I get Poplar from a store, the growth rings are in quite a similar color to the rest of the wood. Did you do anything in the finish to bring the grain out like this, or did the wood just look like this to begin with?
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Thanks! Good observation too. I think that there are many varieties of poplar all with different properties. I asked the lumberyard about that and they said that the stock I was buying is actually from the Tuliptree. I'm guessing the blander looking stuff is aspen or cottonwood. Also I did enhance the color very slightly in photoshop because the image was so washed out. I would say that the rings will stand out much more though once I get some oil on it.
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Hmm, I'll have to do some more research on poplar wood then, I did not know that.
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keep in mind it isn't very good for turning. I only used it because it was cheap and I'm a noob lol
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Yes, it's cheap. The best turning project for poplar is segmented turning, or so I've observed, where all the end-grain is facing the next piece.
My teacher in segmented wood-turning did this all the time, and still painted it over in the end.
My worst experience with the wood was one where I lost a pretty nice piece of African Mahogany, and a nice Cherry/Acrylic rim, where a layer of poplar was stuck in between the two. The poplar cracked in half after multiple attempts to fix the end-grain. Bah!
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Damn bro, the cracked piece must have been a big downer. But failure is essential to improve your craft. I'm certainly no newcomer to the idea
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Well, I had already accidentally turned the bottom piece of wood too thin to be stable anyway, the poplar was just a bad idea that became the breaking point.
one of the oddities of poplar is that it stay green colored far longer than most woods I know of, which could be a desirable feature.
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I really like the signature. Francis was certainly more eloquent than me
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