purple poplar

[red river]

Hi ya'll

I was at my local Lowes going through their craft wood and bought a 1/2 x 6 x 4 ft poplar board that is entirely purple. It's unique looking and beautiful so I bought it. However, I read somewhere that this color may fade to brown in a relatively short amount of time. Has anyone ever encountered or used this kind of poplar before? Will it fade? Can i coat it with something before it fades? ( polycrilic or polyeurathane ) Can you scroll something after you have coated it? Any insight would be appreciated..........Thanx.....forrest

 

 

 

[Rockytime]

I have no idea but it sounds interesting.

[preprius]

If it is like purple heart, it fades based on UV exposure. 

Purple heart is tricky.

Fresh cut Purple heart can be a dull brown. after sanding too.  But let it be exposed to sun and the purple will get brighter over a several days.  

Then you can put a UV clear coat.  Look for brand general finishes UV protection.

 

 

[FrankEV]

Poplar is a great relatively inexpensive wood that is OK for scroling, but in itself it is not a very pretty wood.  The wood comes in all sorts of colors as part of the grain. Yelow/green/brown/purple can often be seen in the same board.  The colors will fade and I don't think any finish will prevent it from hapening, but yopu can try.  I might suggest clear lacquer.   The lacquer will not restrict scrolling in any way, and is eaily sanded after cutting and hten recoated with lacquer with out being noticable.    

Althougnj I have cut a fretwork piece from poplar I mainly use it for making frames.  Polar takes paint very well and will take stain OK but the grain can be a big detraction.  That is why I search for pieces that have very little grain color.   I feel very lucky when I find one board out of 10 or more that has very little colored grain. 

 

[WayneMahler]

Yes it will fade to brown, a dark brown at that. The green does the same thing. You might want to try Spar Urethane as it has UV protection properties. It will slow it down some what. It's a shame too, I have seen some really gorgeous tulip poplar with mixed colors.  

[new2woodwrk]

I just bought 2 18' boards of purple poplar yesterday - it looks fantastic! It was also a little more expensive

I happen to think poplar is a very attractive grainy wood as I've been using it on all our puzzles, hangers and kids sets!

All wood will fade with time AFAIK.

I've dipped this purple in mineral oil and wow does it bring out the purple even more! It does however turn slightly brownish after the dip but the purple is still very vivid.

My mill guy says it comes from a specific part of the country/world which is why there are various colors of the grain

So far I have used Green with yellow (gorgeous), light beige with dark beige (very nice grain appearance) and last week I had a small piece of green/yellow/brown/purple - it made one of my dragons look fantastic!

What I am told is poplar is a great "colored" wood - it takes painting very well, is used in cabinet and door making and although is seldom stained or left natural, I find it very attractive for my puzzle purposes.

[TAIrving]

19 hours ago, red river said:

Hi ya'll

I was at my local Lowes going through their craft wood and bought a 1/2 x 6 x 4 ft poplar board that is entirely purple. It's unique looking and beautiful so I bought it. However, I read somewhere that this color may fade to brown in a relatively short amount of time. Has anyone ever encountered or used this kind of poplar before? Will it fade? Can i coat it with something before it fades? ( polycrilic or polyeurathane ) Can you scroll something after you have coated it? Any insight would be appreciated..........Thanx.....forrest

 

 

 

I suggest you read the article in The Wood Database about color change in exotic woods.  Preventing Color Changes in Exotic Woods | The Wood Database (wood-database.com).  There is a discussion about how to slow/minimize the fading of the colors near the end of the article.  

[red river]

Thanx for the replies. Outstanding info as always.

[lawson56]

When I first started scrolling I tried diff, types of wood,Poplar being one, sorry it will fade.

[OCtoolguy]

One of my first projects was a basket made of poplar and once assembled I was very happy with it. I used Watco natural oil and then a couple coats of Zinnser's spray shellac.