Waxfree shellac, followed by a single coat of Minwax pecan polyshade, followed by a coat of oil based polyurethane. 600 sandpaper leaves a glassy surface.
Looks amazing! I’ve found I have two different types. When it dies it either goes punky (disintegrates) or it’s nice and hard like the wood in your pic. I haven’t been able to identify the two types. Poplar is used a lot to make trim pieces. When I cut down some of the larger ones I’ll take a look at them, if I can find a mill nearby maybe I’ll get some boards out of it!
-SB
Mardie. Beautiful! See PM.