Elm logs

[climbncut]

Does anybody ever mill elms? I have a nice Siberian elm log that's straight as can be with no visible knots. The heartwood  seemed to have a real nice color with great ring pattern so I figured it might be worth keeping after we had to remove it. What would elm boards be good for?

[Kansas]

Elm can be beautiful lumber. Seems like some trees dry nice and flat, and some don't. We have cut Siberian, with mostly good results. Use it on any furniture project.

[chucker]

 trailer decking and high sideboards on dump trucks..., thats where most of my elm goes. elm is best treated when drying out as its great for spliting and warping!!!

[tyb525]

I know that red elm is bright red sometime when first cut. I haven't had a whole lot of trouble with it splitting or moving, but i know it is almost impossible to split for firewood.

[chucker]

mostly talking about good ole american pith elm .... ;D

[Tom_Averwater]

I sawed some red elm yesterday. I made 4/4 out of it.  All of the elms are dead around here.

[climbncut]

I will def use it for some kind of interior use if it turns out nice. I learned about splitting it to use it for firewood in my teen years...don't waste time with it. Although, it does make good boiler wood when cut and ripped. Thanks for the replies. I have a lot to learn about milling since I have access to so many different species of urban logs. Looks like this is the place to find good info.

[ohsoloco]

Elm is easy to split for firewood...if you use a chainsaw  :D

[SwampDonkey]

Used here in plank flooring under draft horses. They like to tread and the elm doesn't get worn out as bad.

[mike_van]

SD, I was always told the horse pith didn't rot it as fast as other [like white oak] lumber.

[thecfarm]

Cut the elm in to stove wood lenght and leave it out behind the wood shed for a year,than split it.My Father would do this and than we would split it up the next year for us to burn.I can still rememeber him saying, We'll wait for the life to get out of the wood,than we'll split it. We would spilt it by wedges and a maul.No gas powered splitter for us.We,as in my brothers and me.

[ely]

if you cut it green, into firewood and then split it while it is frozen, it splits better.

[rickywashere]

Does anybody ever mill elms? I have a nice Siberian elm log that's straight as can be with no visible knots. The heartwood  seemed to have a real nice color with great ring pattern so I figured it might be worth keeping after we had to remove it. What would elm boards be good for?

i seen several videos on you tube milling elm looks great

[Dodgy Loner]

I've milled a couple of winged elm logs with mostly good results. but the twisting grain can cause problems with flat-sawn lumber. If I get my hands on another good-sized elm log, I'm going to quarter-saw it. Siberian elm is a much prettier wood than winged and American elm, so you're in luck!

[Dave Shepard]

trailer decking and high sideboards on dump trucks..., thats where most of my elm goes. elm is best treated when drying out as its great for spliting and warping!!!

That's what we do with it as well. Much tougher than red oak. Don't know how it holds up to rot. Let you know in a few years. :D

[tyb525]

I was told once that red elm was often used to make gates around here... my great-uncle calls it "gatewood"

[sparky]

An older sawyer once told me of a bad experience that he had when sawing elm. He said there is a lot of tension in elm logs and they need to be rotated much more frequently than when sawing most anything else. He was running a 60" circular mill when the log on the carriage twisted, and forced a headblock into the blade. Nobody was injured, but the blade had to go to a "saw doctor" for surgery. I have not sawn much elm, so I can not comment on the subject of tension. I have a red elm log that I will be swing in a few weeks.

Sparky

[SwampDonkey]

The one board I had in the stack twisted about like a stick of licorice as I machined it.