We were hanging out in the shop after work tonight, and one of the guys I work with mentioned that he has an elm tree that died this year, and is still standing in his yard. He said I could have it if I wanted it, and as elm is getting rarer every year, I can hardly see telling him I don't! Any of you folks turned this, how does it look/cut/etc. Any points of interest with it, like excessive cracking or other things to watch out for?
Prometheus wrote: We were hanging out in the shop after work tonight, and one of the guys I work with mentioned that he has an elm tree that died this year, and is still standing in his yard. He said I could have it if I wanted it, and as elm is getting rarer every year, I can hardly see telling him I don't! Any of you folks turned this, how does it look/cut/etc. Any points of interest with it, like excessive cracking or other things to watch out for?
I'd jump on it. It's absolutely gorgeous wood, but if it's anything like the "Chinese elm" I've been using, turn it when it's wet and green. Them dry chips really irritate the heck outta my skin! Can be lotsa knots, so watch for 'em, fantastic grain, very interlocking. It makes great hubs for wooden wheels, or anything along the lines of "I don't want this piece of wood to split". Tom
I don't think it is particularly attractive. Also, it smells awful -- the farmers have a name for it because of the smell. On the other hand, I wouldn't turn it down. I would turn down about any type of oak and walnut unless it had something interesting going on.
It smells like bad cheese, at least when green, but the bit I've turned is a nice light brown with ray flecks. I find it very attractive.
I didn't have any cracking or checking problems, but have only done a couple of small pieces. It's tough to find here because it can't be cut between April and September, and what is cut is usually burned. We don't have DED here yet, and the city is trying to keep it that way.
I wouldnt mind getting my hands on some elm, but at the moment any elms around here that are cut have to be burned. We do unfortunately have DED here, I think so far this year I have spotted 4 or 5 dying trees due to the disease. With most trees on city property being elms, DED spreads quickly.
The elm disease went through the area here about 40 years ago, and we lost a enormous amount of large elm trees, there are still a lot of elms here but they don't get very big, it seems that the young trees are not affected as much as the older trees, they get up to 18"D or less I estimate and than die off. As for your area, I am afraid that it is only a matter of time until someone brings in a infected bug in or on a piece of elm wood, that's how we got the emerald ash beetle out of Ohio or Michigan a couple of years ago, people just don't realize that the firewood they bring along might be infected. However I don't understand why burning the tree or the trimmings would prevent the elm disease, it is a fungus that kills the tree by preventing the flow of sap in the tree and the tree dies in a year or two, as long as the fungus is not around the bugs that fly from tree to tree will not spread it around, if it is around then you would have to kill every bug that digs into the trees. Also tree trimmers will spread the disease around, with their equipment and those that dig trenches will move it from tree root to tree root, luckily the Elms bear seeds at a early age and keep the species around, and somehow overcome the disease eventually, or someone can change the fungus so that it will not girdle the trees, lets hope.
Go get the wood, it is a nice enough wood, a bit stringy when wet and alive, not so bad when dead and/or spalted. Elms have a distinct odor, but I find the white Elm not that bad smelling and it disappears completely when dry. You should not have a lot of problems drying it as the interlocked grain does not split as easy as most other wood, just don't let it dry to quickly and you should be all right. The wood is not very hard, turns ok when dry, dries just fine and looks good when finished, what more you want.
I agree with most of the responders. Go get that Elm! There is a brigh side to the Elm situation. They have been working on a Duch Elm diseas resistan strain. I understand that they have one and are starting t market it to cities. This is a strain of American Elm, not a sustitute If you get a chance to get some Slippery Elm also Known as Red Elm ge that too. It Is darker and more red colored than American Elm and turn well
There are big signs surrounding the city warning people about transporting elm firewood. But we all know it's inevitable, and the disease seems to be following the river from the south towards us.
It's not to prevent the disease per se, it's to eliminate the cut woood and bark that will attract the beetles in the first place. More a devensive action.
And they don't always burn, I misspoke. They also bury.
Don't know about the ornamentals called this-or-that "elm" or any subspecies, but I do know that American elm is a really nice wood. While it does have a somewhat distinctive odor when green, it is a very tough and split-resistant wood, with some beautiful chatoyance and often very nice grain, not to mention the myriads of pin knots you can often find in it. I have been fortunate enough to get several entire American elms over the past couple of years and I really love this wood. Make sure your tools are sharp, and touch them up often, and you should have no problems with it, especially since it is standing dead, and therefore won't be "green." (So there'll be less smell)
Around these parts, DED has already come through like wildfire, so I don't think burning is the rule anymore, as it's pretty much already entrenched. I don't think I've even seen an elm in quite a long time, this guy just happened to have a couple that survived a little longer than the others. Just in case, I'll keep it err... quarantined... in my garage. :)
Good deal- I'm needing some more wood, as I've almost finished turning all the birch I nabbed, and I'm waiting for the ten gazillion tons of basswood I've got to dry before I bother with it- just didn't want to waste a day or two harvesting junk wood. (Especially since I do all my felling and cutting with hand tools!)
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