Elm wood

Had a few Chinese elms in the yard, around 8-10 inches, and when they up and
died, I started in. Moderately hard, it's got many tight knots, (can be tough
machining an edge) which can offer some nice figure.Bookmatching can be
beautiful. Greens, yellows, and browns. Seemed to stain and take a finish
pretty nicely. Not sure of it's warping tendencies, as the wood I harvested was
pretty well dried when I cut it up. Use a metal detector first! Tom
>FrankS wrote:

>Does anyone have any experience in working with elm wood, Chinese or Dutch?
>Does it have a nice color, grain, texture etc? How does it mill and sand?
>Is warping a problem. I'm getting close to the point where I can mill my
>own lumber and elm trees are regularly be removed during the summer and our
>local landfill will let me harvest lumber for only a few bucks per tree. I
>have a large project in mind, dining room table and 4 chairs, and I would
>like to use a lumber that is not run of the mill lumber yard. Any info you
>have would really be appreciated. Thanks
>
>frank
>
Someday, it'll all be over....

I cut up an American Elm years ago and made lumber with a chain saw mill.
Later I made a table out of it and various other small projects. The grain is
similar to oak or ash but tighter and smaller, and not as porous. The color is
uniformly blond. It's an extremely hard wood, so it is tuff on your saw and
not easy to sand. I didn't have much probelm with warping or cupping. Be sure
to let it dry, or kiln dry it, or you'll have problems with your project.
>
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Remove the 'remove' in my address to e:mail me.

Reason it's tough to split is the grain reversals, which let you know that a
properly finished piece should have lots of shimmer. The grain patterns of
U americana (betcha that's the one with the "Dutch elm disease") are very
vivid. Used to find it in ash furniture once in a while. Saw it 5/4 or
6/4 to protect against the twist, and it'll be some nice accent wood.
Something as big as a table would be just too noisy, IMHO.

"FrankS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Does anyone have any experience in working with elm wood, Chinese or
Dutch?
> Does it have a nice color, grain, texture etc? How does it mill and sand?
> Is warping a problem. I'm getting close to the point where I can mill my
> own lumber and elm trees are regularly be removed during the summer and
our
> local landfill will let me harvest lumber for only a few bucks per tree.
I
> have a large project in mind, dining room table and 4 chairs, and I would
> like to use a lumber that is not run of the mill lumber yard. Any info
you
> have would really be appreciated. Thanks
>
> frank
>
>

We made a couple of outdoor chairs out of it. They were beautiful. However, our
wood was so hard they took two or three times longer to make as if we had used
another wood. Very hard on the tools. The results we great but we would not do
it again. Cheers, JG

FrankS wrote:

> Does anyone have any experience in working with elm wood, Chinese or Dutch?
> Does it have a nice color, grain, texture etc? How does it mill and sand?
> Is warping a problem. I'm getting close to the point where I can mill my
> own lumber and elm trees are regularly be removed during the summer and our
> local landfill will let me harvest lumber for only a few bucks per tree. I
> have a large project in mind, dining room table and 4 chairs, and I would
> like to use a lumber that is not run of the mill lumber yard. Any info you
> have would really be appreciated. Thanks
>
> frank

As far as English elm is concerned, which from accounts here is similar,
good grain characteristics and color. As it is very tough to split virtully
all English windsor chair seats are made from it..............mjh

--




"JGS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> We made a couple of outdoor chairs out of it. They were beautiful.
However, our
> wood was so hard they took two or three times longer to make as if we
had used
> another wood. Very hard on the tools. The results we great but we would
not do
> it again. Cheers, JG
>
> FrankS wrote:
>
> > Does anyone have any experience in working with elm wood, Chinese or
Dutch?
> > Does it have a nice color, grain, texture etc? How does it mill and
sand?
> > Is warping a problem. I'm getting close to the point where I can mill
my
> > own lumber and elm trees are regularly be removed during the summer and
our
> > local landfill will let me harvest lumber for only a few bucks per tree.
I
> > have a large project in mind, dining room table and 4 chairs, and I
would
> > like to use a lumber that is not run of the mill lumber yard. Any info
you
> > have would really be appreciated. Thanks
> >
> > frank
>

I've actually got a nice board of "birdseye" elm that I bought from a local
sawyer. Most likely a Dutch Elm. Beautiful piece of wood. The birdseye
figure, while not intense, was really pretty in this type of wood.
I like the gold/blonde coloring of the wood and it has a nice consistent
grain to it. Tooled nicely for the chunk I cut off and used for a small hall
table.

gary

"FrankS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Does anyone have any experience in working with elm wood, Chinese or
Dutch?
> Does it have a nice color, grain, texture etc? How does it mill and sand?
> Is warping a problem. I'm getting close to the point where I can mill my
> own lumber and elm trees are regularly be removed during the summer and
our
> local landfill will let me harvest lumber for only a few bucks per tree.
I
> have a large project in mind, dining room table and 4 chairs, and I would
> like to use a lumber that is not run of the mill lumber yard. Any info
you
> have would really be appreciated. Thanks
>
> frank
>
>

Elm. A pain to dry without warping/twisting. Used mainly in furniture
for structural strength where it will not be seen due to its lack of
appearance. Extremely hard to work without power tools. You CAN'T
split an Elm trunk section that has a big knot in it. It is a good
wood after it is dries. Maybe others have worked it also?



On Wed, 4 Feb 2004 12:14:19 -0600, "FrankS" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Does anyone have any experience in working with elm wood, Chinese or Dutch?
>Does it have a nice color, grain, texture etc? How does it mill and sand?
>Is warping a problem. I'm getting close to the point where I can mill my
>own lumber and elm trees are regularly be removed during the summer and our
>local landfill will let me harvest lumber for only a few bucks per tree. I
>have a large project in mind, dining room table and 4 chairs, and I would
>like to use a lumber that is not run of the mill lumber yard. Any info you
>have would really be appreciated. Thanks
>
>frank
>