Lately I’ve been using poplar for blocks, for two reasons: 1. It grows around my house, so I save out a few chunks that would otherwise become firewood. 2. When I split it for firewood, I notice that it is a lot harder to split than spruce, and resistance to splitting seems like a good block characteristic.
I have some willow strips that I use for linings on the rare occasions that I make linings.
And if I didn’t have the poplar or the willow, I would use spruce for both.
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