Thread: Elm: sap wood, bug deterrant and loose stickers

Can't speak speciffically for elm but as a general practice I would take the bark off, seems lots of the critters lay their eggs just under the bark and the larval stage starts from there, not sure on the sapwood and susceptibility to borers, ususally prof. google will say regards susceptibility.]

If the difference in boards is only a couple of mm's I don't worry too much about packing the stickers, but if the diff. is more like 5 mm I will try to make sure it remains all equal hieght with extra spacers as required.



Pete

Hi All,
I was about to do a job, so I picked this bit of Elm, of about 80mm. x 750mm. looked at the end, & it had a Shake in it. So I cut a bit off, still the Shake.
I ended cutting the whole lot up, so it will go to the fire.
I have struck this type of Elm before, must be a different Species, to the good stuff.
Of course I could have cut it into 16mm x 16mm. for some other jobs, but I have so much, of that size, I will never get to Turn it.
Very Disappointing.

I have a bit of the top of an elm log from a friend of mine that has stacks of various timbers. It had bark all over it. It was perfect underneath. I guess you can be lucky.

Thanks for the advice folks. I'll go clean up the edges and fix the stickers next week.

I don't know how much use the timber will be. It doesn't seem particularly spectacular in any way at the moment, but I said that about my poplar which has since blown me away with it's beauty when I dressed some of it this week. At least I've got a few years to figure out what I can do with the elm

The product you mentioned Borax or similar is available from most good hardware stores and is mixed with kerosene. This does a great job in ridding the wood of borers and similar Also works very well on silky oak. Elm is a fantastic timber to use and is easy on the tools but giving a great finish. Talk to Wood Wood on these forums and he could tell you mor. Good luck and once you use it you will be a conveted one also.

I've turned some English elm out of a mature or over-mature tree in a Melb. park.

The sapwood was cream and the rest a lovely choc. brown. With a bowl the contrast was spekky ... but with some exposure to light (and maybe oxidation) it all turned to a boring dark beige.

Have roughed out some bowls from green timber and they've been pretty stable in drying.

Originally Posted by malleeboy

The product you mentioned Borax or similar is available from most good hardware stores and is mixed with kerosene. This does a great job in ridding the wood of borers and similar Also works very well on silky oak. Elm is a fantastic timber to use and is easy on the tools but giving a great finish. Talk to Wood Wood on these forums and he could tell you mor. Good luck and once you use it you will be a conveted one also.

Borax is available in supermarkets too. Boron, the concentrated form, is available from farm chemical suppliers usually. They both dissolve in walm water, no need for kero.