Elm

Matt I think those are the same Elm as we have up here in Kansas. I heard my granddad call them piss Elm and others call them Chinese Elm. If they are indeed the same tree, the wood is a nice easy turning wood with wonderful, beautiful grain. Surely someone will want some. I made 5 bowls about 10" across and 5" deep and sold them all at a craft show in about 20 minutes. I still have about 20 blanks of Elm.
 
I've never turned elm (but now you've piqed my interest!), but I've made plenty of flatwork out of the wood. Up here in Minnesota, they sell the wood as "red elm," due to the reddish-brown color of the wood, which deepens a bit with time. The color is somewhat reminiscent of cherry. You'll see some really nice tiger-eye effect in some of it too - the grain can have quite a luster.

And that lovely, urine-like smell...you'll notice it when you cut and machine the wood. But once it's finished, there should be no noticeable odor.

Cheers,

Kevin
 
Matt, I'm currently stocked on wood, but wanted to thank you for the generous offer. And you've done a good job cutting up the blanks and removing the pith. :thumb: If you have some old half-used cans of latex paint sitting around, you should use some of it to paint the end grain parts of the blanks. That'll help slow down the cracking even more. (BTW, plinth is the base of a column, pedestal, statue, etc.)
 
Matt I try to get to the painting in say 3 days or less. I just paint with old leftover latex paint. The logs I would do two coats. Then would cut them up into lumber as soon as you got time. Same goes with the bowl blanks. I generally paint them when I cut them up. Again latex paint works good especially if it is left over. At 6' long if they do crack a little it should not make much difference if you cut them into say 8/4 lumber. Then sticker them and let them dry. I am not dead sure and someone please step in but air dried I would think 14" wide and 8/4 thick would take 3 to 5 yrs. to dry. Make sure they are stored out of the sun and covered or inside a barn out of the weather. Anyway that is what I did with some 12" to 14" walnut. It worked out fine. Hope this helps Matt.
 
Love that Elm...

Hello Matt,

Down in this part of Texas, we turn lots of Elm... It's a really nice timber and it can produce some really beautiful zone line definition in spalted blanks. As another poster mentioned, the smell will go away when it is finished, so no worries there... I'm a professional woodturner who works primarily with green wood, so if I can help you with any specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, or post your questions here. I have a couple of articles on using wax emulsions on green wood and drying that you may be interested in reading. Here are the direct links:

This article talks about using wax emulsions on green wood to help prevent checking...

http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com/wax-emulsion.html

This article talks about a simple method to dry green wood blanks and rough-outs using paper bags...

http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com/paper-bag-drying.html

Whatever you do, you need to treat the exposed end-grain areas with wax emulsion, (some folks use latex paint) to prevent steep moisture gradients from forming, which can lead to checking. I would also treat any high figured areas on your blanks like tight curl, crotch figure, burl etc. It's also best to treat the end-grain as soon as possible after cutting to prevent checking.

The amount of time that will be required for your blanks to reach EMC is highly variable. There are six basic factors that will influence the amount of time required for your blanks to dry, or reach EMC. These factors include:

Specific species
Wall thickness
Average temperature in the drying room
Average humidity in the drying room
Amount of wind velocity in the room
Adjunctive drying processes, if any, that are introduced (dehumidifiers, heaters, air conditioners etc.) into the drying room

As you can see, it really depends on the specifics of your situation. With thick blanks it can take quite a while before the piece reaches EMC. That's why most woodturners go ahead and rough out a piece... It dries faster than leaving the blank in its solid form to dry and it's easier to turn green wood to boot! Take care and all the best to you and yours!
 
...Whatever you do, you need to treat the exposed end-grain areas with wax emulsion, (some folks use latex paint) to prevent steep moisture gradients from forming, which can lead to checking.
Matt, the wax emulsion that Steve is pointing out is the better treatment for both turning blanks and raw lumber. Anchor Seal is the predominant brand, and there are others, usually labeled as "green wood sealer". (I get the house brand at Rockler...it's about $20/gallon.) Since you're doing these blanks as a freebie, I suggested old latex paint as a cheaper (free?) alternative. That said, if you're cutting up lumber for yourself you might want to consider getting some sealer, at least for the lumber. I doubt you'll find any at the local lumber yard, but there may be some in the bigger towns to the east of you.
 
Elm is good!

Matt, you might hate me for this but, I have a reciprical deal with a friend in Michigan's U.P. I trade him elm and walnut boards for flame birch, curly maple and birdseye maple. It seems he can't get walnut that easily and uses 8/4 elm for chair seats. He can get the premium woods for next to nothin, and has been real happy when I show up with the walnut and elm. I've been real happy too. I heat with wood and burn elm 80% of the time. Elm dies faster than I can cut it. Most woods I cut in have dead elm in profusion. It will stand for years and is as hard as ever when I need it. I also turn turkey strikers from spalted elm. They sell quite well.
 
I cannot get Anchor Seal here in Japan, or anything like it, paint is not cheap either, so I use the #2 type semi waterproof yellow wood glue, 2/3 glue to 1/3 water. Heat up the water to make it easier to mix in with the glue.

I've found this works very well.

Good luck with the lumber and the bowl blanks! :thumb:
 
For drying your lumber, you could check with local sawyers. They might rent you the kiln to dry your wood for you, my suppleir charges $20 per 500 bdft. This is only if he is getting ready to run it of course.
 
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