Thread: Cutting down English Elm

In the late 70's when Dutch Elm Disease was rampant in England we used elm as a structural timber to replace a floor in a cottage in the Cotswolds. Richard had bought a load of elm from a local sawyer who had a horizontal reciprocating saw, we got started pretty soon after the wood was delivered. We didn't do much dedicated drying, just stickered the beams and flooring with the same 3/4 or inch stickers; although I do remember that we stacked and unstacked each ?? morning/afternoon?? (it was 35 yrs ago!) I remember we used Evodure, I think only on the ends. The floor boards (10 or 12 inches wide, just flatsawn) were just laid as a floor but not fastened for ?? a year or so?? so they dried in situ.

HI SCOTT
You should be able to get some nice size slabs from that tree, I green turned 7 400mm bowls 100mm deep with a wall thickness of about 25mm and let them air dry for about 6 months, I am in the process of remounting and finishing them with hard burnishing oil.
regards
john.

Originally Posted by John T

HI SCOTT
You should be able to get some nice size slabs from that tree, I green turned 7 400mm bowls 100mm deep with a wall thickness of about 25mm and let them air dry for about 6 months, I am in the process of remounting and finishing them with hard burnishing oil.
regards
john.

Thanks John,

Yep, have already cut a few chunks out of it, some nice burl as well. Was quite surprised at how much water Elm holds. I think I'll just wax the end grains and let it sit.

Thanks for the tip also Frank.

-Scott.