Loft bed for Olivia, Tyler’s daughter. It’s made of sixty 8’ dry, hem-fir 2x4’s finished to 1 1/4” thick. The posts are 3” wide , the rails are 6” wide, and the stair members are all 9” wide. The rails are joined to the posts with 18 custom made angle brackets. The bed has been finished with milk paint plus 3 coats satin lacquer. She gets up through a 20” wide opening. She kneels on a 12” section of bed “floor” before the mattress. The stairs were Olivia’s idea from the start. Who wants to climb down a ladder in the middle of the night?

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Poplar is a relatively soft, fine-grained hardwood with a kinda boring grain pattern. Poplar’s sapwood is usually an off-white color and the heartwood is usually a kinda ugly pale green. So, because of it’s softness and generally undesirable color, poplar is not a good “primary” wood for fine furniture, and similarly, if poplar was in a movie, it would not be the star. Poplar would never be, like, Kermit the Frog.

Poplar is more like Gonzo or Beaker or the Swedish Chef- it would play a superb supporting role (sorry, I haven’t seen a grown-up movie in a long time.) It is readily available and affordable at about $1.60 per board foot. Also, it’s very stable, fairly knot-free, and often available in wide boards.  Therefore, it’s considered an excellent “secondary” hardwood; meaning, it’s a great choice for not-so-visible furniture parts such as drawers and internal frames. Plus, it paints well and machines easily, so it’s also a wonderful choice for interior moldings and architectural products that will be painted. We use poplar for the braces in our Paint Grade Corbels.
http://www.tylermorriswoodworking.com/collections/corbels/products/concave-10-corbel

I’ll never forget visiting South Carolina and going on a day hike with my brother. We noticed that the poplar trees were taller than the oak, maple, beech and other deciduous trees, plus they grew awesomely straight with no branches for at least 80 feet! According to the Eastern Tree Society, more poplar trees over 170 feet in height have been measured than any other eastern species. The current height champion is approximately 178.5 feet in height and grows in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Poplar’s scientific name is Liriodendron tulipifera. It’s also known as tulip tree, tulip poplar or yellow poplar.

These are the Baltic birch plywood dining chairs that Tyler designed.  For more info:

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The 17” X 17” brackets are to support a 1 1/2” thick, glass shelf for a customer in California.  For a step-by-step description, please see our Facebook article.

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http://www.tylermorriswoodworking.com/collections/corbels

In February we made and donated 10 poplar wood birdhouses. They were beautifully decorated by 10 Fort Collins artists. The birdhouses will be sold in a silent auction and the proceeds will help to provide housing stability and reduce hunger in Larimer County. For more information, http://www.tastebenefit.org/