# Poplar or Sycamore? Wood ID Help



## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

I bought quite a few reclaimed 4×4 hardwood posts a while back for my workbench build. Because they were rough sawn and a little weathered they all looked pretty stinking similar, so I just picked out the straightest ones I could find with the least amount of checks and splits. Once I started getting them cleaned up, I found that I have quite a few poplar posts in the mix and then I ran across one that kind of stumped me.

The wood has a some greenish looking heart wood with some brown in there as well, but the quarter sawn face looks really reminiscent of Sycamore. What do you guys think? You can really see what I am referring to in the third picture.


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## cmaxnavy (Dec 23, 2007)

Looks like Sycamore to me…


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

Poplar, in my opinion.


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## Wolfdaddy (May 18, 2013)

Almost certainly poplar.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Let's make it 2-2. I say sycamore.


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

I was leaning towards poplar as well, but then again I've never seen the quarter sawn poplar before. The rays almost don't look quite large enough for Sycamore, but I'm just not sure.


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

Sycamore, pretty confident. Quarter Sawn no less


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## Blackie_ (Jul 10, 2011)

I'm a plus for Poplar, I've never seen a green array in Sycamore but most common in Poplar.


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## Wolfdaddy (May 18, 2013)

I've dealt with miles and miles of poplar and the quartersawn flecks look identical to the pics. I have a couple of cutoffs I'll try to get some pics of tonight. The green coloring is also pretty common in poplar.


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## BrentKistner (Feb 7, 2013)

Poplar gets my vote as well. The green tint and typical ray/fleck is pretty common to the stuff I have used in the past.


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

It's looking like the panel is confirming my suspicions. Wolfdaddy, I'd like to see pictures of those poplar cutoffs (not the denim ones) if you get a chance.


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## shampeon (Jun 3, 2012)

Yeah, QS poplar has those nice flecks. That green will mellow to a nice medium brown.


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## Wolfdaddy (May 18, 2013)

Here are a couple of crappy iphone pics…


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## Wolfdaddy (May 18, 2013)

Thankfully I do not possess any denim cutoffs anymore…


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## PaulDoug (Sep 26, 2013)

Ha, if it has the greenish tint of the first pictures, I would guess popular. If it is really pinkish like the second set of pictures, I guess sycamore. Which color is it? Either way I'm just guessing.


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## GuyO (Nov 27, 2013)

Does it smell of cat urine? Then it's sycamore.. My vote is poplar..


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## danr (Sep 5, 2009)

Poplar IMHO.


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## Raftermonkey (Jun 5, 2010)

Definitely poplar


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Yes, yellow poplar. Sycamore's ray fleck is much more pronounced. Here is a pic of quartersawn sycamore for comparison.


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

Thanks guys. Yellow Poplar it is. Danny I was hoping you'd chime in on this topic because I know you've milled a good bit of QS sycamore.


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