Let me take that a little further... Poplar will suck up water like a
sponge if it can find it and will swell and distort. I would not
consider it a good wood for holding fasteners either... My advice to
the pro, dump the stock, run away from this post, and hope the subject
never comes up again... no disrespect intended Jaques', and remember,
this is ONLY my opinion.
Scotty from SmallBoats.com

The poplar plywood I am testing is listed here as "marine" plywood:
http://www.worldpanel.com/eurolite.htm

I don't expect much distortion from a 5 ply 6mm ply with melamine glue,
saturated with epoxy and fiberglassed.
This is plywood used as a core and hasn't much to do with wooden boats
technology.
I agree that poplar is not a proper material for a wooden boat hull but
balsa or foam aren't either. Very large and good boats are build from balsa
and foam.
Poplar has better characteristics than those core materials but it absorbs
moisture.
I have concerns about moisture and that is why I posted the question.
I have seen boats with balsa strips (not Contourcore) as a core.
Balsa also absorbs moisture too and is more tender than poplar but those
boats last. Why not poplar?
At which point will it's moisture content stabilize in an epoxy matrix?

It is already used in wood -epoxy construction, WEST systems endorse it for
some applications:
http://www.westsystem.com/webpages/e...8/plywood.html
Poplar is used for aircraft ply and gest a MIL spec. It is tested for shear
resistance after a 3 hour boil test. Not exactly a sponge.
I know that this applies to poplar with an Okoume face but shear resistance
is all in the core, in the poplar.
I also know of some kayak builders who had great succes with poplar and if
it could be used for larger boats, that would be great.
Don't misunderstand: I am playing the devil's advocate here. I keep an open
mind about it and I am not ready to endorse it for such applications. I may
if my tests come out positive, I may not if I read about some bad
experiences.

Thanks for your opinions and I would like to read more.

--
Jacques
http://www.bateau.com

"Backyard Renegade" wrote in message
...
Let me take that a little further... Poplar will suck up water like a
sponge if it can find it and will swell and distort. I would not
consider it a good wood for holding fasteners either... My advice to
the pro, dump the stock, run away from this post, and hope the subject
never comes up again... no disrespect intended Jaques', and remember,
this is ONLY my opinion.
Scotty from SmallBoats.com