Yellow Poplar
John Kohnen
On Wed, 23 Jul 1997 21:45:35 -0700, Jon Cassino wrote:
> Well feed me corn and watch me grow! Let me take a look at my reference
> material and I will respond in a day or so. But a small warning - Lumber
> yards will tag similar LOOKING species as the same. You might think you
> are getting Tulip wood and be getting someything else. Below is the
> address to a very good woodworking site - much discussion of wood types
> goes on with the mailing list.
>
> jon
>
> http://theoak.com/index.html
Jon-
Yes, that's a warning we all wood be wise to heed. That fellow building
boats of "Yellow Poplar" mills his own lumber, so he knows what he's
getting. The article is in the May 15 Messing About in Boats, Volume 15 -
Number 5, titled "Building Boats in Georgia" by Robb White. With apologies
to MAIB for stealing it (MAIB, 29 Burley St., Wenhmam, Mass. 01985, if you
don't subscribe already do so right now!), here's part of it:
"...About that wood, there is one problem we feel like we need to explain. We
build all our boats out of the wood of the tulip tree (Liriodendron
tulipfera). Tulip trees are a member of the primitive magnolia family and,
though the wood is soft and light, are classified as hardwoods. Their range is
the whole eastern United States from New England south to Florida and west to
Missouri and Texas. Tulip trees are some of the biggest and tallest trees east
of the Mississippi.
"Although not commonly used to build boats, the heartwood of the tulip is very
durable and was the preferred wood for building log cabins in the Applachians.
It was also a favorite for lining hand dug wells and building farm wagons and
buggies. The oldest covered bridge in West Virginia (1852) and the only two
lane one in the country, was built entirely from tulip wood and was still in
use when it was bumed by a gasoline spill in 1986. When it was re-built, only
the siding and roof needed replacement.. The old tulip framework and roadbed
were still good.
"We have a whole list of examples of the durability and strength of tulip wood
which we use to explain why we have used it in our boats since the middle
sixties. So, what's the problem? Tulip trees are commonly called "yellow
poplar" and get confused with true poplars in the genus Populus which are
cottonwoods and aren't worth a flip for lumber. There is a lot of variability
in the quality of tulip wood as well, and some of it, though strong and light,
is not as rot resistant as the wood we use. We use it because it is the best
for the boats we build, not because we can't get anything better.
"We are one of the few sawmills in the country which regularly salvages
old-growth virgin longleaf pine, Atlantic white cedar and red heart cypress
from storm thrown trees (we get all our old growth tulip the same way). We
will haul our rig many miles and work mighty hard for just one fine old tree.
We could build boats from anything we want to, but we prefer tulip because of
its peculiar strength, flexibility, light weight, variable color and grain,
and compatability with epoxy.
"I wrote an article for Woodenboat about boatbuilding with the wood, and we
got all the way down to the galley stage before they asked Prof. Jagels what
he thought. He said, in effect, that it would probably be a useful wood for
boats that were kept inside all the time. I had to withdraw the article from
publication. We decided that we couldn't take the chance of that reply if
someone were to write in to the editor (like they love to do at Woodenboat)
with a question about the suitability of the wood.
"The fact that we have used tulip successfully for years to build so many
little boats which stay outside most (some all) of the time would carry no
weight alongside the opinion of Woodenboat's certified wood expert. We don't
mind controversy, we just don't like an open and shut case. If we could have
been assured that we could have answered any letters questioning our choice of
wood ourselves, we would have gladly gone on with the publication of the
article.
"We seldom have to defend the wood to people who have seen our boats. We would
like to encourage its use by others. Tulip is cheap and readily available in
excellent quality. Best, it is actually increasing its population in its
range. In the coves of the Appalachians, it is becoming a "weed tree" by
taking over places where the more valuable oaks, cherries and walnuts were
clear cut. Tulip trees grow fast, and although they don't have much heartwood
until they get thirty or more years old, we built a 13' boat from the lumber
of only one twenty year old tree. Even though the boat was built mostly from
sapwood and spent its life outside, it remained serviceable from the time it
was built in 1968 until it was busted when a tree fell on it during Hurricane
Kate in 1985. Its remains are still in good shape out in the woodpile
right now....
"Robb White & Sons Inc., Boatbuilders Since 1961, P.O. Box 561,
Thomasville, Ga. 31799, (912) 226-2524"
--
John <jko...@cyber-dyne.com>
http://www.cyber-dyne.com/~jkohnen/nautical.html
Believe me my young friend, there is nothing--absolutely nothing--
half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.
<Water Rat>