I would like to create a thicker leg in a bath vanity however I would rather not use up all my cherry wood to do so. I thought that I might be able to face glue 4 (4/4) poplar pieces together (yeilding two face sides and two edge grain sides approx. 3" square) and then glue my 2 (4/4) pieces of cherry to the blank. I am not sure what the ramifications of gluing the face side to the edge side of the poplar. Only the front and side would be treated with the cherry, one side would have to be face/edge glued. Does anyone have any ideas on what I may run into or a better way. I'm thinking the poplar glue up would be essentialy a long glue block. Thank you for any help.

Face grain cherry to edge grain poplar should not be a problem as there will be very little expansion and contraction with the poplar edge grain. Face grain to face grain is what I would be more concerned with. A lot depends on the moisture content of both species as well.

But at 3 inches square as the final dimension I don't think you'll have to many problems at all. Is this just going to be a square leg or turned at some point.?

There is a way to arrange all the poplar so that there is 90% edge grain showing which of course is more desirable. That would involve re- sawing the poplar into smaller pieces and gluing them up so that all but a small amount of face grain is showing on the blank.

Again however, at 3 x 3 I really think that would be over kill. Or is the final dimension 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 with poplar blank being 3 x 3?.

Thank you for your response. I was going to use a pre-glued up "turning square" purchased at a big box store which is 4 pieces of 3/4"thick x 3" wide poplar glued face to face and then glue two of my 3/4" cherry pieces for a front and a side (one would then be on the edge). I was concerned becuase I have read that end grain yeilds a bad glue up due to movement and the tendency to drink the glue and I was just not sure what the characteristics of the side or edge grain was. I have been refering to this site for some time and enjoy it so much and I also just wanted to get involved in some of the discusions. I am not sure what the moisture content is now for the cherry but it was purchased a few years ago and was kiln dried and has been in one of our bedrooms at home (my wife wants it gone or turned into something besides a stack) I would imagine the moisture content is low for it and the turning square. Again thanks.

Thank you new york new york for your response, I attempted to respond yesterday but did something wrong. However, I asked the question because from some of my research I found end grain is supposed to be a less desirable glue surface due to its thirst for glue and inherant movement qualities. I just wasn't sure what the characteristics of the edge/side were. I also have enjoyed this site for some time and just wanted to be involved in some of the conversations. Great job Tommy love the site and your show!
The idea I had was to use a glue up purchased from a big box store that they call a turning square which is (4) 3/4"thick x 3 wide face glued poplar sections which would yield two face and two side/edge glue surfaces, and then glue my (2) 3/4" cherry pieces to the side and face. The cherry is kiln dried and has been in one of our bedrooms for a few years (my wife would like it gone or made into something besides a stack) so I would guess that the moisture content would be low and I would imagine the store bought is low as well but I have no way of qualifing either, . I was not sure what kind of movement there would be in thickness (or from face to face "swell" I suppose you could say). My quandry was to save my good cherry however if it was not the right way and it failed then I did not save any wood but wasted it and did a bad job. Appoligizes for the long winded reply I'm wondering if I had drawn a picture if I could not have explained the idea better and quicker. Again thanks I think I'll give it a try.