new species to me

[Engineer]

the local mill just offered me a couple sweet gum logs, a couple elm logs, and a couple pitch pine logs.  stuff they don't want, won't mill and can't sell.  well, i said I'd take them, but I'd never ever seen a gum log or pitch pine before.  the elm I'm only used to as firewood. 

what's the sawing and drying characteristics of these species?  the elm log actually looks like a cottonwood log, but the guy said it was hard as a rock and the grain under the bark was all kinds of wavy and twisted.

i also have a bunch of black birch to cut, which I've never cut before.  done white and yeller, but not black.  anything special about it?

i admit it, i'm a log junkie.  love to cut anything just to see what i get (even if it's firewood).

jon

[MemphisLogger]

I know nothing about pitch pine but I do saw a bit of Sweetgum and Elm.

Both have interlocked grain and like to twist when they dry--thicker slices and lots of weight are called for.

My market for Elm is 10 and 12/4 for chair seat blanks--it scorps well and since it has interlocking grain, won't check like other species will.

My markets for Swwetgum have been replacement or matching mouldings in older Midsouthern/Midwestern homes where Sweetgum was used extensively for natural finished millwork.