Has anyone used poplar boards for anything? Is it stronger
> then pine? Harder/easier to cut?
> Is it as hard as red oak?
> Any comments appreciated.
> --
> Nathan Gutman
> Knowledge may be wonderful but there is bliss in ignorance.
I love poplar and You do have to handpick your colors and Grains for your own taste and preference. Bastard sawn Poplar is very attractive in grain charecter, if you can find some. Most of it is Plain sawn or Quarter sawn The wood is wery stable and reasonably hard as mentioned. If it's not stacked and dried properly it tends to curve as other wood types also will.
A wood we have around New england that is overlooked is Hemlock It is reasonably harder than Pine,Fir,Spruce and Cedars.It's downfall is when it gets wet it warps and twists. So clapboards are out of the question Southern yellow pine when dry and aged is very hard. Try and get a finish nail into this stuff and it may bend on You.
Woods all have their plusses and minuses. Unfortunately we do not get to see a lot of great types go to the commercial mills , like Ash, Butternut Sycamore, and Basswood and many others. Although there are a lot of custom sawyers out there who can provide them or at least saw the logs You can deliver. rick B.