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Tulip poplar for turning?

John Torchick

John Torchick

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Cleveland, Tennessee
I have a piece of tulip poplar that broke off my neighbor's tree. Before I consign it to the burn pile, I want to know if it can be turned. The piece is straight about three feet long and about three inches in diameter. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
 
It's one of my favorite woods but then I turn mostly dry poplar. I use it for woods that need painting. It paints very well. It cuts and carves well. The colors you see when it's green will probably not stay. The greens turn tan and the purples turn brown. It's still pretty however.
 
Poplar

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll get the saw out and do some salvaging. How long would I have to wait to dry a piece about 1" x 1" x 4"? Could I make a makeshift kiln with a light bulb? Again, thanks and good to hear from you.
 
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The home of Thomas Jefferson, Montcello, had a nearly 300 year old tulip poplar that had to come down about a year or so ago, and a number of turners in our area go a piece as well as a couple of well know woodworkers and made projects from them to make the tree live on........

One was a professional turner named Fred Williamson.

http://www.fredwilliamson.com/
 
Just an FYI - Tulip "poplar" (Liriodendron tulipifera) is actually more closely related to magnolia (which have similar structural properties) than it is to "true" poplars (Populus sp.).

Although not a particularly dense wood, it is somewhat fibrous in my experience, but turns, sands, and finishes well. Also not a lot of color or figure, but generally is a good wood to turn (....as are most woods! ;) ).

Rob Wallace
 
Interestingly enough, Rob, I have just finished two very large salad bowls from a poplar that died because of a nearby natural gas leak, AND I have just roughed out several small bowls from a neighbor's magnolia tree. The poplar is much closer grained than the magnolia, and both are very soft, easy to turn, and sand. A year ago people told me the purple would turn to brown, and sure 'nuff, it did. Very attractive color although the wood grain is not very interesting. I had a couple of inclusions in one of the bowls, and that made things more interesting.
 
John Torchick said:
How long would I have to wait to dry a piece about 1" x 1" x 4"?.
Click to expand...

What are you planning on turning? I turn a lot of smaller spindle stuff, like ornaments, green. Generally in that size I rarely have any problems with cracking and if you use quarter sawn wood you are not going to have much movement.
 
Mike Peace said:
What are you planning on turning? I turn a lot of smaller spindle stuff, like ornaments, green. Generally in that size I rarely have any problems with cracking and if you use quarter sawn wood you are not going to have much movement.
Click to expand...

Well, for the sake of reality, any spindle which excludes the heart will have quarter and face grain, with all other options, depending on which part of the circle you examine. Don't spend time trying to find something which is (expensively) quartersawn for turning.

Tulip (yellow) poplar has the same 2:1 T/R ratio of shrinkage that most woods have, so you can anticipate that the material will become modestly oval even when used outdoors. But a difference of even 3% in a 4" piece isn't a lot. If symmetrical, it's a sixteenth either side.

Check fig 4-3 in The Wood Handbook for an excellent picture of wood shrinkage based on position in a log. http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr190/chapter_04.pdf As a minimum, every woodturner should read Ch 4 to improve their drying success.
 
MichaelMouse said:
Well, for the sake of reality, any spindle which excludes the heart will have quarter and face grain, with all other options, depending on which part of the circle you examine. Don't spend time trying to find something which is (expensively) quartersawn for turning.
Click to expand...

Michael what you say is true to a point.

If you get quarter sawn blanks from a large tree they have useful properties.
the growth rings will be close to straight lines and nearly parallel to each other and to two faces of the blank.

It is easy to cut quarter sawn blanks with a chain saw.

A quarter sawn 3x3 will seldom crack in drying. If I have a 3 foot diameter log. I often cut two bowl blanks from opposite sides cutting parallel to the bark maybe 8" thick The I cut the 2" platter blanks from the center sections.
the two remaining slabs I cut into 4,3,2 inch spindle stock which I dry on a shelf for a year of so.

A platter turner from a quartersawn blank will have a grain pattern of parallel lines. A platter turner from a rift sawn blank will have grain patterns of circles if viewed from the bark side or hyperbola grain patterns if viewed from the center of the tree side.

I much prefer rift sawn face grain blanks for bowls and hollow forms.

-al
 
I'm thinking of turning reels seats for custom fly rods. Sizes will be about 3-1/2 inches long and about 3/4 inches in diameter. The log I have is about 4 inches in diameter and about 2 ft. long. Don't have a bandsaw (yet) but was going to try it on the TS. Best way to cut it? Best finish for a waterproof finish? I had directions on how to dry small piece of blue pine in a microwave. Work the same way?
 
John Torchick said:
I'm thinking of turning reels seats for custom fly rods. Sizes will be about 3-1/2 inches long and about 3/4 inches in diameter. The log I have is about 4 inches in diameter and about 2 ft. long. Don't have a bandsaw (yet) but was going to try it on the TS. Best way to cut it? Best finish for a waterproof finish? I had directions on how to dry small piece of blue pine in a microwave. Work the same way?
Click to expand...

Ripping logs is not really tablesaw work. It could be very dangerous unless some sort of sled is devised to hold the log steady. Splitting the log through the pith before putting on the saw/sled would be a starting point.
 
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