Elm?

[dustytools]

My FIL gave me permission to take down an Elm tree yesterday that had the bark peeling from the base of the tree. I cut it all up for firewood with the exception of the bottom 4' which is clear of knots and limbs. Just guessing it is about 22"-24" diameter. Have any of you fellow woodworkers on here crafted anything using Elm? How does it mill,dry etc..

 

[oldsaw]

I can be pretty wood. IIRC, it does tend to move a bit, but not really bad.

Mill away.

Mark

 

[dave_b_quick]

elm lumber

In the early 1970's I had 1,000 BF of elm milled to 4/4 stock at a sawmill. I got the logs for free when Davie Tree had a contract to take down a zillion blighted trees in Buffalo, NY. Dutch Elm Blight fungus kills the tree by cutting off circulation in the cambium layer, but doesn't affect the lumber. I still have an elm trestle table with an oil finish which has lasted 30 years. I remember the grain being twisted, so in a sawn board the grain changes directions every few inches. This makes it a challenge to plane, but can make some pretty grain patterns. I wound up planing across the grain by hand to keep from raising the grain and using a cabinet-scraper and sandpaper to get a smooth finish. The book "Sailing Alone Around the World" by Joshua Slocum (ca. 1898) described receiving many compliments for unfinished elm countertops in the galley. I experimented using elm for steam-bent ribs for a rowboat, but it rotted out pretty quick so stick to white oak for bent frames. I lost a lot of my elm lumber because I didn't have a proper place to store it and while I was away at sea for a few years an outdoor rick collapsed and dumped the pile on the forest floor where it rotted. Good luck and post a pic of your new elm furniture when you're done. -Dave

 

[dave_b_quick]

dimensional stability

Oldsaw is right about the dimensional stability of elm. It does shrink and expand more than oak or maple with changes in humidity, so allow for that in your structural details.

 

[dustytools]

Thanks for the input guys. Welcome to AS Dave. Hopefully Ill be able to mill it up in a couple of weeks and Ill try to get some pics. Thanks again.

 

[preach it]

We had a bad storm here in 2001 that put a lot of trees down. I cut up one elm tree into boards about 12" to 14" wide and 2" thick. I dried them in my garage for 4 years. I am sure that it didn't need to be that long but I wasn't able to get to the project I had in mind for them until then. I they did warp a little and planed them the best that I could to about 1 5/8" thick and made my kitchen table out of them. It is really heavy and really sturdy. A 300lb slab of meat could easily be tossed on it and not phase it. Both my teenage kids sit on it and that is beyond 300lb. One of the boards did warp a little bit more after the table was finished, stained and coated. But most people wouldn't notice. The stained grain of elm is beautiful. Nice table, I am sure that it will last me the rest of my life (25yrs or so). The size is 63" x 45". Heavy table it must weigh 200+lbs.

 

[Mike Van]

Old timers like elm for the flooring in horse stalls, I guess the horse piss didn't rot it away as fast as other wood. I can remember some monster elms around here, 3 - 4 ft dia. All dead & gone now. Some smaller 12" still grow, but the disease gets them sooner or later.

 

[Al Smith]

They typically used elm for such things as wagon tongues,loading planks etc.The stuff is resiliant and bends a lot before it breaks,plus it is not prone to splitting such as oak.

I too remember stately old elms 3 to 4 feet in diameter.Every so often one will make it to two feet but it's a rarity to find one over 18 inchs any more.

 

[TedChristiansen]

I milled some elm using a Logosol TimberJig/385XP and some on my vertical 18" bandsaw (small logs). It has interesting figure and is very hard. It does move a lot during drying, so be prepared to joint and plane quite a bit to get the stock flat.

I used it around the shop and for some small projects.

Regards,

Ted

 

[irishcountry]

Elm

Might not be too helpful but I made a handle for a homemade mallet for driving wood pegs out of elm I didn't know what it was at first it came out of the firewood pile as soon as I split it and started putting a draw shave to it I though man this is nice working wood and it is clear. What I had was a small peice and it was pretty straight grained I ended up using the mallet for setting slate tile in our bathroom and some odd jobs around the homestead I never once seen it bend or heard anything crack so it must be reasonably strong. Just my 2 cents.

 

[BlueRider]

what kind of elm?

You didn't say what kind of elm you have. I have milled four different kinds and each has its own distinct properties.

Siberian and red elms both look very similar and to a large extent work very similar with red elm being a bit harder. both are murder on planer knives. I found it necessary to modify a set of knives to a york pitch. WHile I use these mostly for elm they come in handy for rowey grain and highly figured woods. Each planer is diferent so you have to check yours to see what angle the knives strike the wood at. Then you hone a bevel on the back of the blade such that you end up changing the angle of atack to 55*. this angle on hand planes is often refered to as a york pitch.

Chinese elm is one of my favorite woods and works much easier than the other elms though it is substantialy harder. Chinese elm makes increadable mallets and chisel handles and turns beautifuly.

Cedar elm is not as hard as siberian and much plainer in color and a bit coarser in texture. Dispite the fact that it is elm, cedar elm actually carves reasonably well. Not in the same league as mahogany, bass or butternut, but on a par with white oak.

All of the elms I have move a fair bit from season to season with chinese being the most stable. The movement is not so much to be problematic, but you do have to plan for it and for wide panels I tend to look for quarter sawn boards. Despite the tendency to toast any cutting edge that it comes in contact with elm sands remarkably well and easily. Sme people can't stand the way elm smells, I don't mind it too much, though it is not one of my favorite scents.

One of the things I really like about elm is that it has a familiar look but does not look like oak or any of the other comonly used woods. I would definately mill it up and nothing under 2" I don't have too much of a problem with it moving excessively during drying though it will split down the pith or near knots. keep your chain sharp. It will dull it fairly quick so keep track of how long each cut takes so you know how sharp your chain is.

 

[dustytools]

Honestly I dont know what kind of Elm it is. I was even unsure of the species until my FIL told me what it was.

 

[stonykill]

I've built several table with elm. Being used to working with pine, I built furniture to move. Pine will move 1/4 " season to season. I see it in my own house. Elm is a beautiful wood rarely used anymore. In medieval time trestle tables were made of European elm. Some of them are still around.
I have a pile of elm drying right now to build a medieval trestle table for a customer.

 

[woodshop]

I have a pile of elm drying right now to build a medieval trestle table for a customer.

Elm is beautiful wood and has some nice grain patterns depending on how it was sliced. I only have a few boards of it but they sure look nice. Waiting for the right project for them.

Stoney I'd like to see your version of a trestle table when you get to it... I acquired a huge 2 inch thick 4 x 6 ft solid slab of apple years ago I plan on making into a kitchen table. I need to build a jig to mill it dead flat first. When I was out in the northwest I saw an old guy with a washing machine motor fitted with a router bit that he swung from a triangle shaped jig that then moved back and forth across a huge redwood burl to flatten it out... thought I might do something like that but use an actual router.

 

[stonykill]

Elm is beautiful wood and has some nice grain patterns depending on how it was sliced. I only have a few boards of it but they sure look nice. Waiting for the right project for them.

Stoney I'd like to see your version of a trestle table when you get to it... I acquired a huge 2 inch thick 4 x 6 ft solid slab of apple years ago I plan on making into a kitchen table. I need to build a jig to mill it dead flat first. When I was out in the northwest I saw an old guy with a washing machine motor fitted with a router bit that he swung from a triangle shaped jig that then moved back and forth across a huge redwood burl to flatten it out... thought I might do something like that but use an actual router.

Its going to be built off of the customers drawing. The base is how I would build it, but the top isn't. The top...the best way to describe it ..is a door, made out of elm. I'll be starting it after xmass, I'll post pics.

About your jig to flatten. I've done similar to what you are describing. All you need is a table of sorts, even using sawhorses, then you mount the router to a longggg board. You can then pass the router over whatever you put under your makeshift table/platform. I'm not as good as you are at describing things, but I'm sure you'll get the idea.