Poplar weight calculator
Poplar runs about 2.4 lb per board foot kiln dried. Enter your sizes below, and switch to green or air dried if that is what you are carrying.
- Density
- 29 lb/ft³
- Per board foot
- 2.4 lb
- Green
- 45 lb/ft³
6–8% moisture. What a hardwood dealer sells for indoor furniture.
= 0.75"
4 × Poplar
30lb
Each piece
7.5 lb
In kilograms
14 kg
Per sq ft of face
1.8 lb
Poplar at 28.8 lb/ft³, 7% moisture content. Each piece is 60" × 10" × 3/4", so 0.26 ft³ of material.
Before you pick it up
The whole load. All 30 lb of it. Worth checking against what the car is rated to carry before you drive to the yard, and worth knowing before a freight quote.
Before you drill. The shelf itself is 8 lb before anything goes on it. Size the hardware for the shelf plus its load, fix into framing rather than drywall anchors wherever the two disagree, and remember that a floating shelf loads its bracket as a lever — the further out the weight sits, the harder it pulls at the wall.
Working yellow poplar
The cheapest genuine hardwood and the usual answer for paint-grade work, drawer sides and shop jigs. Soft enough to dent with a fingernail and the green-and-purple streaking is unsuited to a clear finish. Mills easily but fuzzes when sanded — a light damp raise before final sanding fixes it.
Poplar questions
- How much does yellow poplar weigh?
- About 29 lb per cubic foot kiln dried, which is roughly 2.4 lb per board foot. Green off the mill it is far heavier — around 45 lb per cubic foot at 83% moisture content, because most of that extra weight is water.
- Does yellow poplar get much lighter as it dries?
- Yes. At 83% moisture content it runs about 45 lb/ft³; air dried to 12% that falls to 30, and kiln dried to 7% to 29. If you are hauling freshly sawn lumber, work from the green figure — the difference is real weight in the back of the truck.
- What should I know about working yellow poplar?
- The cheapest genuine hardwood and the usual answer for paint-grade work, drawer sides and shop jigs. Soft enough to dent with a fingernail and the green-and-purple streaking is unsuited to a clear finish. Mills easily but fuzzes when sanded — a light damp raise before final sanding fixes it.
- How much weight can a floating shelf hold?
- That depends entirely on the bracket and what it is fixed into, not on the shelf. What this calculator tells you is the part people forget: what the shelf weighs before anything goes on it. A 48" × 10" × 2" solid oak shelf is around 23 lb empty. Size the hardware for the shelf plus its load, fix into framing rather than drywall anchors, and remember that a floating shelf loads its bracket as a lever — weight at the front edge pulls far harder than weight at the wall.
- What's the difference between board feet and weight?
- Board feet measure volume and are what you are charged for; weight is what you have to carry and ship. They are related by the density of the species, which varies by more than two to one across common woods — a board foot of white pine is about 2 lb and a board foot of hickory is about 4. Two orders of identical board footage can differ by a hundred pounds.
- How do I estimate freight for furniture?
- Start with the weight of the wood, then add the joinery hardware, the finish, and the crate — a plywood crate with bracing often adds 30% to 50% to the shipping weight of a table. Freight is usually billed on the greater of actual weight and dimensional weight, so a large light piece can be charged as though it were much heavier. Get the number here, then ask the carrier what they will actually bill.