Poplar is a type of wood. Which is very often used to create wood products. Poplar wood is often used for making furniture, toys and in wood turning. After all, poplar is an inexpensive and easy-to-work material. It has good nailability and adheres well.
Poplar wood is perfect for painting, but if necessary, it can also imitate more noble wood species. If, of course, you take certain measures when applying the coating. Poplar is also often used for industrial purposes. For example, as an inner layer in plywood faced with more expensive varieties. And also for the manufacture of boxes and pallets.
Physico-mechanical properties of poplar wood
The density of wood is low; at a humidity of 12-15% it is 400-500 kg/m3. Poplar is classified as a light tree species. But the strength of wood can be compared with other hardwoods. Resistance to cracking is high, but chips easily. Abrasion resistance is good, since the surface fibers are compacted by mechanical stress.
Drying
Poplar wood dries slowly, without cracking or warping. Drying black and white poplar wood requires different modes. The fact is that in white poplars the core and sapwood have approximately the same moisture content, but in black poplars the core is wetter than the sapwood. This must be taken into account when drying workpieces.
Treatment
Processing is not difficult. Wood is easily amenable to sharp tools, both manual and mechanized. It cuts easier when fresh, but when processing dry workpieces, fibrous sawdust quickly wears out the saws.
Due to its friability, wood is difficult to sand and polish. The gluing process is not difficult. Easily painted with stains and mordants.
Poplar lumber
Coating
Poplar wood is known to take paint very well. It is poplar that is chosen for the manufacture of products that are subsequently planned to be painted. It is quite resistant to rotting. And if you sand it, coat it with primer and paint it correctly, it will last a long time as a piece of furniture.
If you plan to make a poplar product that will be placed outside, you will need to refinish the coating every few years. The specific period depends on the type of product and its location.
Poplar wood: nuances of staining
Staining a poplar is a completely different matter. Without pre-treatment, poplar wood becomes stained when stained. In order for the stain to apply well, it is absolutely necessary to properly prepare all surfaces of the product. Cover them with a special primer for subsequent application of stain. Thanks to this, the stain will lie much smoother. And it will better show the natural structure of the tree.
As a rule, gel stains are more suitable than impregnation stains. Water-based stain may appear somewhat cloudy on the surface of the wood. In this case, a little sanding will be necessary before applying the varnish.
Imitation of noble wood varieties
Some craftsmen use poplar to imitate more noble types of wood. For example, maple. However, this is not so easy to do. Of course, these two types of wood have somewhat similar grain structures. But the eye of a person experienced in these matters will almost always be able to see the difference.
If you still want to imitate another type of wood - the same maple - if possible, choose a material that does not have gray or greenish areas. If fibers of a similar color are occasionally encountered, there is nothing to worry about. But poplar wood often has large areas of darker color than the creamy white base.
To make poplar wood more closely resemble the type of wood you want, first try staining a small piece of poplar. From the same board from which you made the product. Don't forget to prime this "tester" with a stain primer. The same as for the product itself. This way you can select the optimal staining technology on a small test piece. And don’t ruin the entire product by making a mistake.
The second life of poplars or the history of creating crafts from saw cuts
Irina Klimina
The second life of poplars or the history of creating crafts from saw cuts
Summer is in full swing. Glad to see you all again after a long “break”!
And today I want to tell you one story, the story of the appearance of an interesting design from saw cuts on the territory of our preschool educational institution.
As often happens in life, when we “don’t keep what we have, but cry when we’ve lost...” Yes, for almost sixty years the poplars “grew and grew” at the entrance to our kindergarten, delighting some with pleasant coolness in the summer heat, and others sometimes irritating with the arrival of the June “winter” with allergenic fluff. This happened back in May.
And here is the categorical “remove!” decided the outcome of this long-term confrontation, and in two days they - so strong and powerful, it seemed eternal - were suddenly gone... The tree trunks were so large that when they fell after being cut down, they “broke a lot of things” - almost all the flowers in the two main ones were damaged flower beds, changing their appearance beyond recognition. Yes, this is such a sad story... Both teachers, parents, and children were very worried about this, but... something had to be done about all this in order to put the lawns at the entrance to the kindergarten in order as soon as possible. And then the idea arose to give a “second life” to the trees that had been its old-timers since the foundation of the garden. In one of the posts I already talked about “birch stories”, when an interesting design appeared from birch logs. You can read more about this in one of the summer posts of 2013.
For several days I had been nurturing the idea of wooden crafts, but I couldn’t understand what it would be. And suddenly, when the master was sawing up poplar trunks in order to remove them piece by piece from the entrance, an insight came: to make various crafts from the cuts, decorating the damaged lawns with them.
Here it is - living material for creativity...
Moreover, it was not possible to remove the trunks themselves, or rather, their base, since the roots of old trees go both deep and wide for several meters. This means that the two stumps that appeared, which “looked” at us people with such reproach, could be used as a basis for design. The theme of the first artistic work was born spontaneously - the disc-shaped cuts themselves suggested it. It will be an owl and an owlet - the image of an adult and a child! No sooner said than done! And already at the entrance, on a huge poplar stump, the first composition appeared, which immediately attracted the attention of both children and adults.
The owl and the owlet felt great in our surroundings, but something was missing to complete the overall composition. And then someone suggested adding a clock. A tree decorated with saw cuts was made from a branch of our poplar tree and placed next to the birds. And a large clock with numbers and hands was attached to a large chain.
But the story of our owls did not end there. Do you remember that there were two felled poplars? So, one of the trunks remained empty (for now, empty). And the second one, on which the forest dwellers were located, suddenly came to life! Yes, yes, a few days later young poplar shoots appeared along the entire diameter of the stump, and now our owls looked so harmonious surrounded by foliage. We decided that this was a sign from above - the tree responded to our action and came to life “in spite of and despite.” And the second stump is still silent...
Then a hare , peeking out from behind a bizarre stump. He was dubbed "the one who plays hide and seek."
And this is a forester , a goblin, well, in general, one of the “forest comrades” in the company of a bear cub, who is also not averse to playing “hide and seek” with the hare, and with us.
The theme of an adult and a child is reflected in another craft - “Two Thrones” .
Between the large and small thrones a magic tree with disks, coins and keys “grew”. Also very symbolic...
On the other side, in front of the entrance, there is the composition “Horse and Cart” . When it was almost ready, someone suggested adding a cab driver. So, with us everything is as it should be: the horse does not ride on its own... The audience, seeing the funny old man, remembered the words from the famous song by L. Utesov “I am not a cabman, but a mare’s driver!”
Well, on one of the stump pedestals we placed a small sculpture made of wood , decorating it with small saw cuts and bark.
Here is a story about poplars, creativity and life... All the best to everyone! Take care of nature, friends.
Poplar building materials
Today, poplar wood grown on special forest plantations is used mainly in the production of plywood and wood-based panels. Laminated plywood, made from aspen or poplar, is a relatively inexpensive, effective material for creating reusable formwork, for example, for creating monolithic concrete structures. Such plywood is produced on a large scale in China, where it finds a wide variety of uses.
Furniture manufacturing
Improvement and development of technologies for manufacturing laminated products makes it possible to compensate for most of the shortcomings characteristic of poplar wood. This is primarily achieved through the use of modern adhesive systems and finishing materials. Domestic and foreign furniture makers successfully use glued furniture panels made of poplar, lined with veneer made from natural valuable species. This allows us to produce high-quality, reliable furniture with excellent reliability indicators, aesthetic beauty and relatively low cost.
Edged board
Edged boards are the most popular common type of lumber, necessary in all areas of construction and finishing work. As a rule, predominantly coniferous wood is used for its production, but there are also products made from poplar. Such edged boards are much cheaper than their coniferous counterparts and are an excellent option for the construction of temporary structures, formwork or, for example, fences. In addition, it can be used to produce wooden decks, pallets, boxes, and many other household products.
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