Cutting up Elm

Hi Terry We're talking Elm here, though there are at least a half dozen different species of Elm and all have one thing in common, it does not split as readily as a lot of other wood, I have and do turn lots of Elm, it usually is stringy when wet especially the outer sap wood,and inner bark ( they used to make rope out of that at one time) not bad when dry though. Rock Elm is really tough and hard, American or White Elm relatively soft and Red or Slippery is softer yet all the others are in between the Rock and White Elm, and have often very nice grain pattern, a couple do have an unpleasant smell when wet, but that disappears as the wood dries. So cutting up the tree, could would should, give you a number of different blanks, I would cut the main trunk into bowl blanks, a bigger crotch could give you 2 platter blanks with the crotch figure and then you'd still have 2 bowl blanks left over, the larger limbs you could cut up and split in halve for box blanks, just make sure you have some extra length on all blanks, for splitting as the wood dries. Try to prevent this for as long as possible by sealing the ends of all your blanks and placing all the wood off of the ground in a shaded wind still place if at all possible, next is start roughing out the blanks as quickly as possible and store them in brown paper bags again if possible in a cool airstilll place.

It's kind of more alchemy than science- but I've had pretty good luck with leaving my wood in log form with the bark on until I need it, and storing it upright, so that it stays somewhat balanced. The ends will crack, but not as badly as you might fear (depending on the wood, of course)

I've also had some luck placing square unsealed maple and willow blanks in a small shed without much ventilation, and stickering between the layers to allow air to circulate. This is a recipe for disaster outside in the sunlight, but in an smaller enclosed building, it seems to stay humid enough to dry slowly, and there is not much cracking. A root celler might work as well, if you don't have a shed.

As far as how you should cut it goes, that really depends on what you're making, and whether you prefer to hollow into end-grain or face grain. Leave yourself some options until you turn one or two peices.

Note that elm sapwood will spalt pretty quickly, so get your bark-on stuff cut while it's a green as it can be.

Don't go into the living area with a sleeve full of elm goo. Odor tends to aggravate those who have to live there.

I like the smell of fresh cut elm... Stinky cheese. Mmmmmm.

Not meaning to change the subject, but I have never worked with elm. Since you mentioned the "stinky cheese" smell, I started wondering how that compares to some Birch that I was working with. It is pretty stinky too.

Wayne

Dave Balderst> >

Elm has a very distinct smell. I would describe birch as nearly scentless in comparison.

Good tips- I've never run across any elm, Dutch elm disease took most of ours quite a while back.

On the topic of smelly wood- I never noticed much with yellow birch, but Willow is another one that is not for the faint of heart- it's got an odor that is almost similar to urine.

Birch is the source of Popsicle sticks. Believe me, elm will never serve.

I have had birch so loaded with stagnant and rancid water that it was not pleasure, but I could stay in the room with it.

We're still clear of it here in Saskatoon, but it's getting closer.

Most Elms died here in the late fifties, but some survived also, and new ones keep growing, also the Siberian Elm and the Japanese Zelkova (Elm family) are tolerant of the disease, the Chinese Elm is also considered fairly resistant. One good thing is that the Elm has already seeds when still young and the seeds germinate readily, so we keep getting Elms, and they seem to be less prone to die when young, but usually don't get much bigger than 12"D or so, I have a fairly large Siberian Elm right behind my house, that's shading my patio and is close to 3 feet across on the lower end. I can "see" some nice large bowls and platters in there, the shade he brings keeps him from the lathe. Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Rodger that!

Slippery elm smells like the south end of a north-bound cow when turned wet -- but turn it at a shallow radius (think "platter") and it has absolutely beautiful fine, herring-bone grain.

And the color ain't half-bad, either.

I've only turned a couple pieces (of the dozen or more I've stashed around here) but I oiled mine and then applied polyurethane varnish and they turned out extremely nice.

Bill

(BTW ... I learned how to cut blanks from logs on Darrells' site. Precise & concise instruction ... much to be lauded.)

Every now and then I hear of someone with a couple of isolated elms out on a farm somewhere, but they've usually been standing dead for a few years, and it doesn't seem worth the work to cut them down only to find they're full of damage or rotten.

I've found that the elm I've cut has some nice color variations from year to year, especially in the end grain, so a cut that will highlight more rings on the engrain is nice. This doesn't necessarily mean you ought to cut in any particular direction, just attempt to make visible faces of your bowls move across many years will highlight the grain. The grain also has some nice iridescent depth in both the radial and tangential planes

I just put up a picture of a 17" shallow American Elm bowl, on the Wood Central turning site.

You can see it there easily, I also have several Elm turnings in my Photo Albums, if anyone likes to have a look.