More plywood info

[Wes Whitmore]

I just called the only place that carries real 5x5 baltic birch here in Columbus. I called them looking for Italian poplar, just to see how much it was. He didn't have it thicker than 1/8", but he said that all of his plywood has a poplar core with just a nice oak/birch/cherry laminate on it, so it should all weigh the same amount. I have seen all of those sheets, and they are all very nice, so it's probably still much better than what you can get at stores. I was thinking most cores were pine on the cheap stuff at lowes and HD. Anyway, he didn't have any weighs per sheet. Some of the lightest stuff I ever found was the handypanels at HD, which are multiple plies without a laminate, but have a few knots, etc. Since its cut down, its a waste of money, but I remember it being light as well. Blondewood was heavy, and I didn't like working with it. BB is the heaviest, but great to work with.

Wes

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Poplar is often used as a core for veneered plywood. It's considered a junk wood, because the greenish tinge often present makes it unsuitable for clear finishes.

[Wes Whitmore]

Not all poplar is green though, right? I looked at some highend plywood on line, it was white. My railing in my house is made of poplar, and it was white before they stained it. This stuff was $68/sheet for 1/2". It's the most expensive plywood I have ever seen(per 4x8 sheet), and short of the veneers, the layers of filler rivaled BB, only less layers. I think this supply is the exception to the rule. Although it's still a thin vineer, and will probably chip and delaminate like the $30 sheets of crap that they sell at lowes, the plies are much better. You could plane off the laminate and stain the plies, it was so nice. Still, no one wants to put $70 in a sheet of plywood if they can avoid it.
Wes

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Poplar is basically white or light tan, but green streaks are so common that it's very much reserved for painted applications.

[Sydney]

Color of streaks MAY be a regional thing in poplar - our tulip poplar has more dark brown and purple streaking and not much green.
When a finish like Deft or Polycrylic is used they appear brown, and looks nice. Takes a stain fairly well.
A few of my friends have had "true" 2 x 4's cut from their stands of poplar ( with a portable band saw ) - Much stronger than the standard spruce 2 x 4's sold at the lumber yards.
Most poplar near here is sent to Marietta OH. to be used as furniture core.
I also know people who make baskets from poplar bark.
One of the fastest growing trees around here - so folks find a lot of uses for it.

[Art Coates]

Genus Liriodendron ("Tulip tree" - "Tulip Poplar" - "Yellow Poplar") is what is common here, however, it's not related to Genus Populus or true Poplar, which includes Cottonwood, and Aspen. Every year we have a fresh crop of tulip tree growing in gutters, flowerbeds, driveway, sidewalk, garden - which grow to ~6ft by fall if left.

[Tim A]

Art's right. Tulip wood and Poplar are different species. 'Tulip Poplar' is a common term for Tuilp wood.

[Sydney]

To all dendrologists:
Yup - wood hicks around here erroneously call Tulip poplar ( Liriodendron tulipifera ) poplar ( mistake of early settlers? ).
Don't know if this is what Bill was referring to, as it is less common in the North East. I doubt that is is used in an imported ply wood.
Cottonwood and Aspen are far less common in WV.
The American tulip tree is the state tree of Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee ( somebody must like it )
Good Ol' boys around here have a variety of colorful ( and sometimes erroneous ) names for the flora and fauna. (yews are called cedar, etc)
Any effort to correct them, and hold them to "scientific accuracy" could provoke an introduction to a "West Virginia Boxing Glove" - a.k.a. a beer bottle

[Art Coates]

The one that irks me the most is the case of the Juniperus virginiana which is also very common here. Even people that should know better call it a "Cedar Tree" or "Eastern Red Cedar" when Cedrus isn't found naturally anywhere near the Americas.

[Harley]

Art's right. Tulip wood and Poplar are different species. 'Tulip Poplar' is a common term for Tulip wood.

It's made in Amsterdam

Should have a stamp on it "For the day I know we can share these, Tulips from Amsterdam"

It's made by the Max Bygraves Ply and Song Co