Question about Poplar

[Surfster]

I could tell the whole drawn out story but I won't. Here's the basic thing. The people next door and I got poplar trees last year. Mine lived and his did not. Died within the month. It's been laying on the earth since then. I was staring at in through my upstairs window cursing the lazy #%*@ for never picking up his crap then WHAM! This thing goes from 8" to 2" in dia and is WOOD! (Gee, a plug builder could use that!)
I'm gonna go over later and offer to chop this thing up into say 9" logs and lob them over my fence! Is it worth it? How long do you guys think this stuff has to sit and dry indoors before turning? For that matter "is it worth turning?"

Thanks,

[Tagger]

Poplar.. I have no plug experience with it,,Carpenter work experience is if it gets wet its junk ...twist all over the place,,,must stay dry in transport to job,,,used for finish wood work ...I have some I was going to try sealing but ayc is so good to get along with ...

[Surfster]

You may have saved me from frostbite AND cleaning somebody elses backyard. Just seems a waste to let 25ft of this rot away if it's usable.

[Jigman]

I used poplar dowels when I first started making plugs. Its a little denser than AYC. Best for things like poppers. Turns/sands well. You have to seal this stuff or it will crack, paint will peel, etc like Tagger noted. 60% boiled linseed oil with 40% mineral spirits. Not sure that I would go to the trouble of cutting up a neighbor's waste to get it. May be a piece or two.

Jigman

[Diamond Tackle]

Birch is good (when sealed).
Poplar im told by several people has paint adhesion problems, no matter what you do. May not be worth it, esp if wet as it will have to dry for a year too.

[Surfster]

Done and done'r. "Pick up yown Chit mang~" Thanks again for saving me the trouble.

[beachwalker]

Poplar needs to be dried, like any wood, for proper stability.

If the log has been sitting for long it may have begun to warp and check heavily. This will make resawing and yeild VERY difficult.

A standard for air drying lumber is 6 months for every inch of thickness, i.e. - 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 8/4, etc.

Kiln drying will cost. There are homebuilt kiln plans available. A solar model is one I have been contemplatin for a few years now.

My advice:

Burn it

[Slipknot]

Originally posted by Tinman
Birch is good (when sealed).
Poplar im told by several people has paint adhesion problems, no matter what you do. May not be worth it, esp if wet as it will have to dry for a year too.

Yep

[capesams]

did u know kiln dryed wood rots faster than air dryed...FACT not fiction.

[JHABS]

And for making PLUGS all WOOD should be SEALED even the CEDARS.............

[capesams]

even ayc.

[BassAssasin]

Originally posted by JHABS
And for making PLUGS all WOOD should be SEALED even the CEDARS.............

Really? Why? I know that cedars and cypress are fairly resistant to decay and pests. Not doubting you, just curious. I have used some cedar plugs that haven't been sealed for quite a while and haven't noticed any problems. I hate sealing almost as much as priming Thanks for any info.

[Jigman]

I've sealed some AYC plugs in the past. Have noticed that the paint is bubbling up on them, even the ones that were not fished. Have fished a number of AYC plugs that were not seal and have not noticed any problems with them. Some of those have seen a lot of water. May be I'm missing something

Jigman

[l.i.fish.in.vt]

the reason to seal plugs would be to slow down the wood from absorbing moisture,,

[capesams]

from painting alot of houses ,, trim, siding etc.....once moisture has gottin into the wood , it needs to get out, an most of the time it wants to come out , or try to come out through the paint or siding, thus lifting the paint off the wood in doing so...trim that was back primed before being put on the house will last almost twice as long before needing a paint job....now apply this method to your plugs wood,,,,water goes in the holes, water gets sucked into the wood,,goes through the wood an gets stuck under the paint,,water wants out..off pops your paint.

jigman..I have an ayc plug that has done the same thing as yours,,it's not a nice site to see..it's never seen water, but I think you'll find it's has more to do with the pitch/sap in the wood, my nice yellow plug is now poop brown with what looks like a water snake just under the finish.

[capesams]

o ..one other thing, cedar may have stuff in it that keeps the wood alive longer, but water can still an does go right through it.