Black Poplar

[Stumpy Grinder]

[ATTACH]209119[/ATTACH]

We had a load of it couple of years ago. Tried hard to find a mill that would make use of it as it was big and straight but in the end 99% of it went for chip

 

I don't think that is black poplar mate? Black is extremely gnarly looking by comparison.

SG

[se7enthdevil]

Nope, you have that all wrong way round.

 

The reason the mills wont take it is that the market doesn't want it and the reason for that is, its a pretty useless timber with many alternatives readily available.

 

Its a simple demand lead supply equation. I have dealt with many tons of "Pop" and if there were a

 

The other uses you cite are either very low demand or obsolete

 

that was poorly worded on my part, yes i meant to say that the end user thinks its poor timber and the mills know this and as such won't take it because they know it won't sell.

 

for me it's down to marketing as the timber properties are very similar to yellow poplar, Poplar | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwoods) which these day gets used in place of it but both species could be used no problem in my opinion.

[Mike Dempsey]

I milled some pop up last year when I needed some hardwoods that would laser engrave quite well and also dry in the kiln pretty quickly. Poplar ticked both boxes there. I have some left and I am using it to make some portable and rustic looking display stands for a clothing manufacturer. They like it because its nice and light (its mainly lassies who are building up the stands) and it doesn't look like the b&q crap pine they normally use when making their own stands. I have made 2 so far and will possibly be making some more. I am only using it because I have it. I would rather spend my time milling oak, beech or sycamore which is more valuable though.

[Oaklay]

I don't think that is black poplar mate? Black is extremely gnarly looking by comparison.

 

SG

 

 

Defo black poplar. I agree it's not as gnarly as you might expect. They were planted in a great spot and grew exceptionally well, never reduced at all. They had to be felled as they were beginning to fail and they were next to busy road. The felling licence and dealing with the local tree lovers was quite a process as black poplar is Rare and becoming rarer. This made it even more frustrating to send 130 ton of huge straight timber for chip