What is Elm good for?

[DR Buck]

I had a very large bug killed Elm tree taken down and saved some decent sized logs to mill.  What is elm good for and what recommended thickness should I mill?   I was think mostly 5/4  but really don't know for sure.

[Ianab]

Elm is a good furniture wood.

There are issues with getting it to stay flat as it's drying, but once dry it's fine. Cutting slightly oversize is probably a good plan, leaves a bit more meat to remove any cupping or twisting.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

If any species ever makes you scratch your head as to what to do with it,
NEVER, rule out a Mantel. Oh what people will pay.

[4x4American]

i sawed out some elm for my friend whos going to use it for flooring.  ill report back in 25 years to let you know how it holds up lol

[justallan1]

I've heard a lot of folks say they use elm for trailer decking.

[4x4American]

its also some of the best firewood, so save your slabs

[WIwoodworker]

I like Elm and cut it 5/4, 6/4 and 8/4. These pics are from a couple of logs I was able to saw a couple of months ago.



 



 

[Ox]

The old timers around here used it for flooring for livestock.  Supposed to be fibrous and stringy and tough.  Apparently will outlast everything but locust.  Of course this needs to be taken with a grain of salt because those old timers sometimes like to exaggerate a touch.

I have zero experience with elm.  They're all gone around here now from dutch elm disease.  Years ago there was a massive, monster of an elm all by itself right by the main road to the next town up.  No other trees around for a long ways which is probably why it survived the disease.  The county cut it down for some reason, it hung out over the road a little.  Last one around as far as I know...all gone.

[bandmiller2]

The guys pretty much covered it. Elm is noted for its toughness and resistance to impact as mentioned its good for trailer and truck floors. As a side note old pick up trucks used it for flooring. I'am not sure how good it is after being tainted with Dutch elm disease. When dry it burns like coal. Frank C.

[Magicman]

When exposed to the elements it is not very rot resistant.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Elm is purty and tough as nails.
I get some dead logs for free once in a while.
My pal and I used elm for the flooring in box stalls when we had horses in our teens (a VERY long time ago)

[WDH]

Spiral grain.  Flatsawn boards warp in drying.  Quarter and rift saw it. 

[Larry]

Grandpa said it was good for wagon wheel hubs.  You know...like covered wagons going west. 

Betcha you could sell a boatload for that. :D

[petefrom bearswamp]

Not too good for firewood.
As the old poem says "Elmwood burns like churchyard mold, een the very flames seem cold

[beenthere]

Negative on how elm burns.
If dry, it burns hot and the coals remain to the point of turning into a clinker much like coal.

If not dry, then doesn't burn well. Just my experience over the past 50 years burning wood.

But I also don't seek out elm when I have plenty of oak and ash to burn. But a couple elm trees are in the firewood stack to burn two years from now.

[mesquite buckeye]

stuff ;D

 

[ddcuning]

I was in Nashville, TN last year and saw furniture built from quartersawn elm that was beautiful and the grain was very striking. Have never used it myself but after seeing that furniture, I would love to.

Dave C

[woodmills1]

Elm burns like a misty day, and is the worst to split.....ask me why  I know...
Makes nice boards

[4x4American]

I wonder if its different kinds of elm that burn differently?  American Elm is what I'm talking about

[woodmills1]

also here

[Magicman]

With our minimum firewood requirement and abundance of available Red Oak, I leave the Elm for termites.  They gotta eat too.

[Larry]

Its red elm that burns well and leaves clinkers like coal.  In many areas its near extinct because it is such an excellent firewood.  When I was able to get it, I always waited for the coldest days to burn it.

Chinese elm is the junk firewood tree.  There are others that I don't know the names.

[4x4American]

Are you seasoning it?

[4x4American]

MM do you have a woodstove down thar?

[Magicman]

 

 


 
Fireplace insert.


 
More than a year's supply of Red Oak firewood.   

[4x4American]

Vedy nice...your years supply would prolly last me 5 days lol

[rasman57]

Vedy nice...your years supply would prolly last me 5 days lol

But your years supply of snow probably would last him 5 days :

[SawyerBrown]

I'm hoping this red (slippery) elm is going to stay flat and machine up nice. It's on the bottom of the pile  ...


 


 

[Jemclimber]

Nice table MB.

[4x4American]

Vedy nice...your years supply would prolly last me 5 days lol

But your years supply of snow probably would last him 5 days :

Reckon so!

[petefrom bearswamp]

Not much Elm left around here due to Dutch Elm disease.
American elm is the one that doesnt split or burn worth a hoot.
Red or Slippery elm is a different story.
The dead ones I get have all been American elm so far.

[Magicman]

Nice looking boards Pete.

[mesquite buckeye]

Nice table MB.

Thanks. ;D 8) 8) 8)

[logboy]

I have quite a few people who want elm lumber because of its strength. Farmers love it for hay wagons because it is strong and springs instead of breaking. Another guy recently told me he wants them for dump truck sides. While oak timbers break, elm springs back and lasts forever.

[MattJ]

Our friend John over at Autine Tools makes his axe handles from elm as it doesn't split easily.  I love the elm handle on the broad axe he made me.

[Magicman]

The same with the Carpenter's Axe that John made for me.   

[DPForumDog]

How do you think elm would fare as material for my island countertop?    I would never cut on it. But I would be banging down bags of groceries and cast iron skillets.    I would have to stain it a little darker to match my cabinets.

We have a HUGE elm that's been dead for years.   I cut a limb and it is beautiful inside.

I want to use this elm for something.  I want to honor it.  I suppose it succumbed to Dutch Elm disease, but it musta been a beauty in its time.

Thanks for any ideas.

Granny DP
DPForumDog

[gfadvm]

How do you think elm would fare as material for my island countertop?    I would never cut on it. But I would be banging down bags of groceries and cast iron skillets.    I would have to stain it a little darker to match my cabinets.

We have a HUGE elm that's been dead for years.   I cut a limb and it is beautiful inside.

I want to use this elm for something.  I want to honor it.  I suppose it succumbed to Dutch Elm disease, but it musta been a beauty in its time.

Thanks for any ideas.

Granny DP
DPForumDog

I'm not normally a fan of stain but elm is the exception. It stains well with no blotching but more importantly, stain brings out all the amazing twisted/interlocking grain. Sand some scraps to 220 grit and wipe on/wipe off several different color stains. You will be very impressed.

[280 rem]

Its red elm that burns well and leaves clinkers like coal.  In many areas its near extinct because it is such an excellent firewood.  When I was able to get it, I always waited for the coldest days to burn it.

Chinese elm is the junk firewood tree.  There are others that I don't know the names.

Dead Red elm makes some of the finest firewood ever! Burning some right now, found some on a job I was logging. Cut them, drug them, hauled them in with the walnut logs. Didn't seem to hard to split, sawmill cut right through the middle of them just fine 8) other species of elm don't seem to make firewood worth having.
May not be too far away from you Larry. I'm bout 50 miles north of Arkansas. I've seen decent amounts of elmin different timbers around , most seem to die pretty young. I logged a couple 20" plus elm a few months back, even sold a couple of the logs for veneer, which shocked me

[Ianab]

How do you think elm would fare as material for my island countertop? 

Don't see why you couldn't make a counter top out of it. It's can be a challenge to work because of it's grain and the way it moves as it dries. But if you cut the boards a bit oversize, got them properly dry, then machined them straight for a glue up it should work fine.

It's a little softer than things like Cherry and Walnut, but not so much that you are really going to notice the difference in use.

[plowboyswr]

280 rem where about in SW Missouri are you?

[mart]

I've heard the, "even the flames are cold', reference to green elm but never about seasoned, dry elm. We burned a lot of it on our farm growing up. We had a lot of dead elm from the Dutch Elm disease that went through the Northeast when I was young. With scores of dead standing elm, my dad would cut it rather than some of the other hardwoods because it was dead, dry and pretty well seasoned already. It was bear to split.

My grandfather would have nothing else but elm for the floors of his horse stalls.

[WDH]

I think that it would make a beautiful countertop.

[Chuck White]

Works good for floors in horse stalls, and I think it's a little better than most for the walls in horse stalls.  Seems horses don't crib so much on elm.

We have quite a bit of Elm (don't know what kind, just Elm) in this area.

[rjwoelk]

I read that horses dont chew on hemlock once they start it looks like a herd of beavers have gone through. Lol

[btulloh]

I've heard that elm is good for coffins.  Doesn't rot when underground.  Sure goes away quick laying around on the ground around here though.  Different species have vastly different properties I suspect. The elm around here make firewood that's just slightly better than a rolled up newspaper.

Winged Elm is what grows around here.  It doesn't have much grain or figure.  I had a big blow down milled up a few years ago but haven't decided to do with it.  It has historic value but not very exciting to look at.  It did dry straight though.

[btulloh]

I read that horses dont chew on hemlock once they start it looks like a herd of beavers have gone through. Lol

Socrates chewed on some hemlock and wound up dead.

[Ox]

I looked that up once after looking at the hemlock out back here.  Turns out hemlock over there around Greece and Italy is some kind of shrub or very small sapling-like bush that's poisonous.  Here in the states, a hemlock is just that.  Same name, totally different plant species.  Not poisonous.  This can be good or bad depending on your situation.  ;)

[btulloh]

Thanks for that info Ox.  I wondered about that.  Good to know.  We don't have either around here.

Have you got some pictures of your 65 Oliver?

[pineywoods]

Not much demand any more, but elm was the wood of choice for making hubs for wooden wagon wheels. Don't use the pith and it won't crack and split,,,

[280 rem]

280 rem where about in SW Missouri are you?

Pierce city

There are several different species of elm and quite a bit of variance between them in qualities. I would assume that red elm is what is being referred to for most of the applications. It seems quite a bit harder than the others when you cut it with a chainsaw. The other species I've usually only been able to market as pallet logs. Other areas I'm sure have species that aren't in my area, and some of those might be great for grade lumber applications. I think rock elm has some specific rules listed in the NHLA book, but I have never seen one that I'm aware of

[Ox]

btulloh - no, I don't have any pics of it.  I've promised in the past that I would get some photos of my "stuff" up in my gallery here, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.  This year sometime after the weather breaks and mud season is over I'll get some up.

I know the industrial Olivers were a somewhat rare breed and I don't know of any other pics of what I have.  Maybe it's worth a fortune!

Probly not.   :D

[twin_lakes]

I have found it to produce some great projects, but it also takes some getting used to because of it's grain (as mentioned).  Here is a cheese/bread board I made out of a live edge slab (this is the underside, the cutting surface doesn't have any holes).  I've also made shelves, bowls, and table legs. 



 



 

Personally it is one of my favorite woods character-wise.  I think it would be one of the most unique and only elm counter tops around!

[Clark]

We only have American elm around here and it was considered a good tree for firewood. Clinkers and splitting logs were the only problem but a large enough stove solved the problem of splitting and made fishing out clinkers easier.

...Here in the states, a hemlock is just that...

Except water hemlock which is deadly poisonous. The real question is why did a genera of trees and a group of perennial, herbaceous plants end up with the same name? I've not clue nor ambition to find out.

Clark