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My local forester pal contacted me recently to say he had just sawn an Elm log that has been sitting in the forest for two years. I've collected a board (18" wide) from him today, with the intention of resawing and air drying for an extended period of time, because this log has been sitting in all weathers, I am assuming it "green" and will therefore treat it as such.

I have been assured that once this wood is dry, it is extremely stable.

Not only have I find gratitude in my fortune at finding some elm, VERY hard to get in the UK due to the rarity of it, has anyone made a guitar from it, and what was working with it like?

/\ grammatical typo, ouch. Should read, "Not only do I have gratitude in finding some elm, I also realise that it's hard to get in the UK due to the rarity of it..."

Long day....

Congratulations, Sam.  Nice score.  

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Waddy

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I am wondering the same thing Sam. I had an elm tree blow over (on my guitar shop) a few weeks ago. I havent sawed the log up yet, but I have plans to cut it into boards wide enough for guitars just to see what it looks like. I'd love to see some pictures of the wood you get from your log so I will know what to expect.

 

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Reguards,

Ken H

I made some electrics (Alembics) with elm body panels several decades ago, and it was very nice stuff. Is what you have reasonably quarter sawn? Any way, I'd get it cut up (resawn) to close to the thickness you want, then sticker it, and weight it well to dry.   Watch out for bugs; I don't know what you have there in the UK, but here we have not only termites, but also pesky powder post beetles...bad news...and they come with the territory on forestry salvaged wood. They prefer sapwood but will go for anything when they're hungry.

Thanks Waddy.

Ken; I've already sealed the ends and put into storage- I work fast, because of lack of space- and I don't know when I'm going to get some free time from my kids to resaw without being disturbed. Hopefully as soon as possible!! When it comes to resawing, I'll send you some pics. Is Ulmus americana similar to Ulmus procera Salisb? (American Elm, English Elm)

Rick, thanks for your advice. The wood I have is reasonably quartersawn, I selected the best board out of the lot. Apparently the stuff is fairly resistant to rot- I had a board of London Plane that rotted with the storms we had early this year (from the same place) and this elm log survived that!

I have a pal whos a tree surgeon and he keeps threatening to bring me a plank of wych elm which aparently bends really well, and looks incredible.

good score Sam, you know me, never say no to decent wood!!

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