What wood for teaching?

[MikeG.]

One or two locals have asked me to run some "masterclasses" (yeah right........weekends yacking in the workshop), and after a hectic summer I'm just starting to turn my mind to the idea. I taught myself this pastime using pine, because it was cheap, but as we know, it's not the easiest wood to play with. I want some of that stuff that Rob Cosman cuts his dovetails out of. It doesn't seem to have a grain, let alone any knots or flaws. But seriously, you guys who teach, or if you've been to lessons lately, what do/ did you use? My personal preference is ash, but if there is something easier for beginners/ improvers to use, let me know.

 

[Peter Sefton]

I use Tulip/Poplar for beginners test joints before moving onto Sweat Chestnut and other timbers.

Cheers Peter

 

[Steve Maskery]

I've done a little - not a lot - of teaching in my time, +1 for Tulipwood/Poplar/Canary Whitewood. It is mild, stable and forgiving. Good results in inexperienced hands are perfectly achievable.
Failing that, get hold of some purpleheart.

 

[Beau]

I dont teach but as Peter says Tulip. It's got to one of the easiest woods to work and easy see marking out on. Rather fragile if are looking to bash joints together and then take them apart though.

 

[MikeG.]

Thanks for that guys. Funnily enough, I've never used the stuff myself. I'll pick some up next time at the woodyard, just to give it a try.

Purpleheart. Yeah...........erm.................thanks Steve. :wink: :lol:

 

[Steve Maskery]

My pleasure.

The big problem with Poplar/Tulipwood/Canary Whitewood is that it is quite soft. You can dig your thumbnail into it. So it does not take kindly to being bashed about very much.
But if you plane it flat, it does tend to stay that way for quite a while, which is fairly helpful, under the circumstances.

Be aware that it changes colour, and quite rapidly, too.

It can be be creamy with big streaks of green and black in it. Leave it in the sunlight for a bit - just a couple of hours - and the green disappears and the black will be less. Eventually it turns a rather lovely honey colour.

If you leave a board out in the sun with your plane sitting on it you will have a woody shadow on your wood very quickly. Hours, not days.

It's like early photography.

 

[Beau]

Got asked to make a dresser in Tulip. I protested saying it was an ugly wood and too soft for furniture but the guy insisted. He cut the tree, planked and dried it himself. I gave in and to be fair it looked better than I expected if a bit odd

 

[Steve Maskery]

American poplar does not look anything like that.
The same in name only.

 

[Beau]

American poplar does not look anything like that.
The same in name only.

Some of it does. Admittedly most of it is the lighter colour but you get the darker bits in it from time to time. Doesn't normally matter as usually to be painted anyway. Both a doddle to work.

On another note is it a poplar or not? The tree surgeon who had cut this said tulip and pop were not the same but I thought they were

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Brazilian tulipwood - Dalbergia decipularis (also Dalbergia frutescens)
USA and UK tulipwood (poplar)- Liriodendron tulipifera
The Brazilian has much more colour and is way heavier and harder. (not that your tree surgeon would have cut one of these down )

 

[Trevanion]

I would've said either Ash, Beech or just Pine myself.

In college, we were all taught using pine so I don't see why anyone else couldn't. Yes it's perhaps a little more difficult to get absolutely clean results but the first few makings of any joint are more than likely going to have flaws anyhow and a few binned attempts. Develop the hand skills first on the inexpensive timber then they should be like pros when they move on to making the joints from hardwoods.

 

[custard]

American poplar does not look anything like that.
The same in name only.

Some of it does.

+1

My saw horses are made from Poplar, and they have exactly the same streaks. The streaks usually start green, but after a few years turn brown.

 

[Steve Maskery]

The stuff in that photograph is nothing at all like any P/T/CW I have ever bought from a timberyard.

I did once have a small block of something that I bought from Craft Supplies in Millersdale, It was also labelled Tulipwood. Had very nice pink streaks in it, IIRC.

Not the same beast.

 

[custard]

Another vote for Poplar. It's almost like a half way house between softwood and hardwood. It's finely grained and reasonably pale, so it shows layout lines and gauge marks really clearly (unlike say Oak). It's kind on your tools and easy to work (unlike say Ash). It's priced roughly the same as better quality pine. And if you mess it all up then just slather on the filler, as nothing takes paint better!

The only problem with Poplar is that it's as fugly as fugly gets.

A better hardwood for first real projects might be American Cherry. A bit more expensive, but dead easy to source in a wide range of thicknesses. Reasonably homogenous and consistent from board to board. Reasonably easy to work. Reasonably stable. Takes glue and fastenings well. An ideal match for the simple Shaker style pieces that are appropriate for first steps in furniture making. And Cherry patinates to a stunning colour in double quick time with just a simple oil based finish.

 

[custard]

The stuff in that photograph is nothing at all like any P/T/CW I have ever bought from a timberyard.

If you ask for Poplar or Tulipwood in any yard around here then this is what you get. If you can self select many people pick out the boards without the darker streaks, but under paint it's all the same.

https://www.woodshopdirect.co.uk/planed ... ar-timber/

 

[Steve Maskery]

I agree it is great for taking stain or paint.
I have a bathroom cabinet made of it. A Chris Becksvoort project from FWW in a previous life. It is stained green outside, inside natural. I rather like it (though is has a broken wooden latch I need to fix).
I don't agree that it is fugly, as you delicately put it , horses for courses, eye of the beholder and all that. It has its place. Under paint and in the hands of beginners are two of them, I agree

 

[g7g7g7g7]

I've taught myself a lot using reasonably cheap poplar.

https://imgur.com/gallery/IfRV2

I think it can be pretty, just oiled and waxed.

 

[Beau]

Brazilian tulipwood - Dalbergia decipularis (also Dalbergia frutescens)
USA and UK tulipwood (poplar)- Liriodendron tulipifera
The Brazilian has much more colour and is way heavier and harder. (not that your tree surgeon would have cut one of these down )

And then Wiki says this to backup my tree surgeon

" Most commonly, tulipwood is the pinkish yellowish wood yielded from the tulip tree, found on the Eastern side of North America and also in some parts of China. In the United States, it is commonly known as tulip poplar or yellow poplar, even though the tree is not related to the poplars. In fact, the reference to poplar is a result of the tree's height, which can exceed 100 feet. The wood is very light, around 490 kg per cubic meter,[1] but very strong and is used in many applications, including furniture, joinery and moldings. It can also be stained very easily and is often used as a low-cost alternative to walnut and cherry in furniture and doors."

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I did once have a small block of something that I bought from Craft Supplies in Millersdale, It was also labelled Tulipwood. Had very nice pink streaks in it, IIRC.
Not the same beast.

If bought from somewhere like Craft supplies it may well have been Brazilian. The only piece I used was entirely various shades of pink.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

https://www.wood-database.com/poplar/

See last paragraph, it's much the same as Wiki. One site does say to save confusion it is recommended that tulipwood is not referred to as poplar.