Thread: Name that tree (and is it any good for turning?)

Chocolate brown heart, cream sap and the leaves and bark, sounds like an Elm to me and yes it turns very nicely.

Might have to go for a visit to the station tomorrow then

Thanks for the help team

Elm leaves have one side longer than the other so they always have that little curl thing happening and never lie down flat. Just like those ones.

I would have to agree with the above (Elm), just turned a pen out of it no more than a week ago, very nice. But also prone to borers.

From here in the UK I agree, it's an Elm.

See that fallen limb, gives rise to the old saying, 'Elm hateth man, and waiteth'.

Well, I had a chat with the SGT this morning and he was more than happy for me to clear his carpark and I could take what I wanted. A tree guy had been called and was going to chip the lot so I broke the tree down and stacked the branches I didn't want neatly then loaded up 2 1/2 trailer loads of Elm.

There's some good sized blanks in there and my trusty little Husky 445 should give you an idea of how big these bits are

Hi Corbs,
Most likely not that one, but down here around Geelong, Vic. they usually have shakes right down the centre.
I think you could split a few of them down the centre, as they have be known to crack.
Great looking FREE Timber.

Very nice haul, my experience is that it does split very badly. I had only a small branch to play with about 6" Dia, never sealed the ends left it as a 3' length had it in a shed for about 12 years all I got was pen blanks, and again those pesky borers love the sapwood.
next time I would definately seal the ends when first cut and maybe precut the blanks wet.

I've got another big day on the chainsaw tomorrow and it's going to be a hot one

With a bit of luck I can salvage a few pen blanks out of that lot

Nice haul. If you do bowls, turn some green and boil or soak in 50 - 50 dishwashing liquid. Do a search on methods.

At least split down the middle, and coat the ends, keep in shade if possible.

Thanks Paul, I've taken the heart out of seven of the bigger ones. The ends on all of them have a very thick coat of paint which has slowed the drying significantly. I've given a few logs away with a few more to go on the weekend. The chain on my saw is pretty blunt at the moment so once I get my other one back (being sharpened at the moment) I will break a few more logs down into turning blanks.

Once I have them broken down I will have a crack at green turning a few and play with the 50/50 mix. It's supposed to be a hot weekend and I'm back at work next week so it might be a little while before I'm finished with them.

Corbs,

Keep a piece or two with the sapwood intact. See below for one of mine. I think this is cherry. The center of the log is along the rim.

If you have prominent grain in the timber and it is large, putting the center of the log at the bottom of the bowl with a wavy top rim following the curve of the outside makes a most interesting design.

eng. elm.jpgSAM_0470.JPGSAM_0479.JPG
here's me experience, thus far,
pic 1 borers love the stuff funny enough never touched the sap wood only bark,
pic 2 one of my first ever turnings has good bark retention if the borers don't get it, I may have even turned this green(can't remember)
pic 3 a branch left to it's own devices in a shed