I will be clearing some land for my log home this summer and have quite a few quaking aspen (locally called quaking ash) that are pretty big. Are there any preferred uses for this wood? My father-in-law has had some cut into boards and built a hay wagon with it (he's sure to keep it covered). How about indoor applications. Thanks!
I'm burning mine for firewood. Does that count as indoor application?! ;D
Quaking Aspen is a poplar popular for use in indoor furniture. if you rip apart your couch the wood holding up all the cushion is probably poplar.
makes great v grove paneling ....
Here is a link to a company that used much of the grade aspen I used to saw. We sold it to Aspen Lumber Company, which was owned by Khoury
http://www.khouryfurniture.com/
quaking aspen known as poplar around here is good for paint grade applications like trim and moulding. I did make an entertainment center out of it years ago and it stayed white white till the urethane started to go a little yellow. It still looks good. It is very easy to work, but it is not the yellow poplar I used to get in W Va.
Also used in the construction of "log" furniture: http://www.thetwistedtimber.com/
Makes great dry kindling for fire starting in the cook stove or furnace. My uncle uses it as such, burns hardwood for the main fire or course. ;D Used to sell some here for veneer. Of course there is always the pulpwood market.
I'll recommend just one thing when cutting Quaking Aspen. Go buy a full skip chain for your saw.
It's a very soft/wet wood that will plug up the space between the cutters on the saw chain, bogging it down. The full skip gives twice as much space for the chips to ride in before they exit the cut.
Makes all the difference in the world.
After the branches are appx. 8" or larger, skip is the way to go.
I've found the same when cutting Cottonwood.
Ed
Thanks, guys!
Wisconsin Veneerand Plywood Co. in Mattoon, Wisc. used to buy it for veneer core material in plywood production. but that was the yellow poplar spceies. used to pay 250/mbf for the stuff. When I was in High School, I built a dog sled from poplar, very light, and very strong. was a great sled. It dioes make beautiful tongue and groove paneling. it is a very strong wood for some applications, the grain structure is long and has alot of flex to it.
mad murdock
Might not have been yellow poplar in WI. More likely it was aspen, oft times referred to as 'popple' and thus confused with poplar i.e. yellow poplar. A lot of local variations of the terms.
Was involved with a study once to peel aspen for sheathing grade plywood. The results of the study ended up having so much clear face veneer that the sheathing idea was scrapped in favor of producing aspen panelling. It was a beautiful product.
Tying up a supply of aspen aparently killed the project, but understand there are Canadian mills producing aspen plywood right along.
It's at the core of a lot of plywood sold here. I can smell it when cutting it on the table saw, aspirin smell to it. They were buying it for as much as $160 a cord, I think the mill burnt 6 years ago that made it at Mirimichi. They had a local wood yard near here where they gathered it and trucked it over to the mill. It would be a 3-3.5 hour haul from here. They wanted it chalk white, no conk. Knots didn't matter.
It"s funny that swamp dounkey said that popual made good kindling
cause my father told me that back when old steam mills /potartabels
would set on a stream or creek they never would set on a popual stand
cause they cut the large trees and used them for piles or knees to
set the mill on he said the mill would burn before the job was done
just old New hamshire /Maine folklore dad was and old sawyer there
/logger for most life