Working with red elm

[scott spencer]

A couple of weeks ago I purchased some red elm from a local supplier. It's kiln dried and has been in his storage barn for ~ 5 years. The wood itself is incredibly beautiful and has gorgeous grain.

Last weekend I squared and plained a bunch of boards to make night stand tops (~ 1" thick). I arranged the pieces in the order I wanted and made sure everything was flat, square, and flush. I was careful to not plane too much off from any one side. Today I went out to glue them up and discovered that a couple of the boards have "moved", and are no longer flat, square, or flush with anything. I'm assuming that the movement is normal for elm and is in part a reaction to the milling. I'm going to let them sit for a few more days than resquare everything, but was hoping some of you might have some guidance, ideas, or insights to share. My supplier did mention that elm moves more than some woods, but I guess I was expecting the movement to take place "later"....guess not...

[Eric Apple - Central IN]

Scott - I've used red elm mostly for turning, and after proper drying it stays just as round as any other wood I've used. It does have a reputation for moving. While waiting for rough tunred blanks to dry, it does go pretty crazy.

My guess is the trip from the 5 years in the barn to inside, to cutting was made too quick. Did you let the wood sit in your shop for a while before milling it ?

[scott spencer]

Hi Eric - Thanks for the response. It sat for about two weeks. Next time I mill some I'll let it set for another week and see if it needs to be remilled.

[thomas prevost]

Red elm can move a whole lot. I put in a floor with it many years ago. It would expand almost 2 inches on a 20ft. width. It was kiln dried and sat in the room for about 2 weeks before laying. More than I gave it room for. Caused the floor to buckle. It does splinter very easy also.

It does make a beautiful floor though.

[lou sansone]

scott

after surfacing your lumber how did you have it stored? did you have all of the pieces just laying out as you were going to do your glue up. If one side was exposed to the shop and the other side was sitting on a bench then I can understand how it would start to move. I make it a practice to take my surfaced lumber and make sure that both sides can get air to them until the piece is complete. Does any of this make sence to you?

lou

[scott spencer]

Hi Lou - Yeah, the pieces were laying on the bench ready to be glued. My bench does have some downdraft holes....maybe that's why some boards seemed worse than others. Thanks...

[John Weber]

Scott,

I made a couple solid wood projects with elm several years ago. I've not had any movement issues, and didn't plan for movement as well then as I do now, but so far so go. The first was a pair of bookcases:

http://www.weberwoodworking.com/pond/Elm%20Bookcase%202.jpg

Then a small play table for the kids:

http://www.weberwoodworking.com/pond/Train%20Table%205.jpg

John

[Corey Hallagan]

Nice work! That really is beautiful grained wood. Looks alot like oak.

Corey

[scott spencer]

John, those book cases are beautiful....I'm a bit more encouraged now! Thanks.

Corey - Yeah, elm does resemble oak from a glance....especially red elm. The grain is a bit more pronounced, but when you get a close look at elm there's a "ghost" grain that nothing else has. It's pretty interesting.

[John Weber]

Thanks guys, I really like the color and grain as well. The book cases are finished with a couple coats of wipe on poly, and the play table is another clear finish, maybe Deft - I can't recall for sure. Anyway, no stain and the color is super. Elm turns fairly nice, as the play table legs are turned and I've made a couple bowls from it. It's softer then oak, but has interlocking grain, so splitting for firewood is a killer (my Dad took down a tree several years ago - I got a bunch of turning blanks, but also a lot of firewood). Both projects are solid wood, I love the back of the bookcases, totally random boards with a ship lap joint. The top was wrapped with a little edging (before I learned about wood movement), but it has held up very well and looks like it did when new, so far so good.

John

[lou sansone]

Hi Lou - Yeah, the pieces were laying on the bench ready to be glued. My bench does have some downdraft holes....maybe that's why some boards seemed worse than others. Thanks...

hi scott

It took me some time to figure this out, being a self taught guy. now I keep the stock on edge until I glue them up. Another trick I have used to put the whole pile in a lawn and leaf bag and wrap it up..