Chinese Elm - Free Wood is Good Wood

[Doug Shepard]

I know this stuff has a rep for being rather stringy to work with but a neighbor 2 doors down was having some large limbs from a really big Chinese Elm removed this morning. I was able to get 2 pretty good sized logs. The one should have some pretty good crotch figure inside. I'll just have to wait a few years for these to dry out then cut them open to see what sort of prize is inside. i should have snapped a pic before putting the sealer on. The heartwood has some real pretty color to it.

[Gary Muto]

The one piece definitely looks cool. Good luck.

[Jeff Willard]

If you wait that long to open them, they may not be worth opening at all. I'd do as much processing now as is practical, i.e., if you want boards, slice them now, or if you want bowls, cut out the blanks and rough turn them before the logs check beyond recognition. Backyard trees are particularly prone to severe checking. At the very least, split them.

[Zach England]

If you wait that long to open them, they may not be worth opening at all. I'd do as much processing now as is practical, i.e., if you want boards, slice them now, or if you want bowls, cut out the blanks and rough turn them before the logs check beyond recognition. Backyard trees are particularly prone to severe checking. At the very least, split them.

Why are backyard trees more prone to checking?

[Jeff Willard]

Why are backyard trees more prone to checking?

Stresses due to open exposure. At least that's what I've always heard ;), but my personal experiences mirror that.

[David G Baker]

I have an 18 inches across by 4 foot tall hunk of what I was told was Chinese Elm in my pole barn that has been there for around 2 years I sealed the ends but it is checking. I saved it when I dropped the tree. The rest of the tree went to a friend for fire wood. He got one season of heat in his shop.
I liked the tree but it was dying and was a candidate for falling on my home so it had to go.
Don't have a clue as to what I am going to do with the log but I will eventually find something to use it for if nothing more than fastening my small anvil on it.The guy that owned my home years ago said his dad planted it when he was a kid. The guy is now in his 70's.

[Frank Drew]

Why are backyard trees more prone to checking?

No, but logs left in the round are more prone to checking, end coated or not (although the coating is an excellent practice). You'd relieve a lot of the drying stress which leads to checking of you at least cut the logs down the middle, lengthwise.

I got some nice wood one time from a large walnut log left in the round, but I think that was the exception to the rule.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Backyard and orchard trees tend to be more prone to warping and checking than "native" grown trees. They are grown in the open and are usually trimmed which will increase internal stresses in the wood. I imagine some species are more susceptible to this than others, but I sure wouldn't turn down something for this reason.

[Eiji Fuller]

Why are backyard trees more prone to checking?

The scientific name is actually backyardus arborvitae and is one of the most unstable of all woods. Very prone to checking and warping as soon as a blade touches it. :D

[Doug Shepard]

Thanks guys. I've been giving some thought to this and as soon as I can get some chainsaw assistance with this I'll get some rough cutting done. Quarters on the round one and slabs for the crotch log. One questions though. one of the reasons I thought I might leave these un-sawn was i thought maybe it might decrease surface checking. in the past when I've cut small boards out of such neighborwood I've got a lot of surface checking. The directions on the green wood sealer I've got says only apply to the ends. But would also putting some on the surfaces slow down the drying at all so I cold minimize this?

[Frank Drew]

Doug

Checking tends to begin right from the pith, the center of the log; it's worse when the log is left whole, and worse again if the end grain is left unsealed because moisture is lost through the end grain faster than anywhere else on the log (so dries out faster, leading to checking, etc....) No matter what you do, keeping the wood out of the direct sunlight is a very good idea.

I don't think it would be necessary to seal all faces of the wood if you do cut the logs down in some fashion, but I'm not sure it would hurt, either. When I seal rough-turned bowls, I put sealer on the whole thing.