![Pretty purple poplar plank [2395x3938 - 1.17MB]](https://pic8.co/sh/80MHN3.jpg){kind=link}
It's pretty but only for decoration since the stuff is like cork in density and strength.
But it cuts like butter in a laser cutter/engraver machine. Same with Alder wood which smells wonderful when I run it in the laser.
I don't do lasers but alder does smell amazing when it's being planed/cut. Fir too, it smells like Christmas when it's being milled.
I can see working with it is simple but the sanding since it seems it would be like trying to sand cloth or rubber and not get that shine the hardest woods can achieve. Also being so soft it seems that marring it would be all to easy to do accidentally getting a gouge or indent in the surface. It's the same reason I avoid things like glass that is to easy to destroy without almost no effort.
Yes it's a soft wood and will have wear and surface marring issues, but that's how soft wood goes. Laser cutting hardwoods is not really practical because of the power needed to get through even thin pieces. High power cuts that are slow will lead to lots of charring and surface burns. The grain on hardwoods also leads to inconsistent cuts since the layers have hard and soft bits which will respond differently to the laser energy. Poplar, Alder, Basswood and Balsa all do much better but they are all soft woods on the Janka hardness scale.
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