Elm for building

[tommer9]

Love to see pics John..

 

 

 

Tommer, get some pics up mate, it could be a good competition, "guess what this was used for"

 

I will be a judge as I will be far too good at it

 

Mostly old block planes etc, but ill see if i have any weird bits still lying about. Good call:biggrin:

[Rob D]

There's two firms near me who buy all the straight oak I come across - Quest timber and New Forest Oak Frame Buildings... So plenty of oak framing going on still!

 

I tried a bit of clefting oak shingles and it wasn't all that hard either (bit the wood has to be very fresh and very straight). You need to get hold of a froe and that's pretty much all you need Got them bagged up at mo all different sizes - was going to ue them for some oak log shelters we're making.

[tommer9]

Good man Rob. I was thinking of getting a shingle attachment for the bandsaw, but there is a guy who has the market almost sewn up down here for shingles, and he is top mate so i wont bother. I would love to see some cleft ones though. You taking any up to Jonesies?

[Al Smith]

Some of you know my great grandparents came over to this side in around 1895 or so from Nottingham . Some of that furniture they brought with them still looks as fine as it did over 100 years ago .I imagine that originaly being in dwellings whiich used coal and food stoves dried the wood so ever slowly it did not develop cracks as it would have had they had central heating systems in those early days .

 

Elm,or at least the species grown localy and actually nearly all gone from Dutch Elm is a nearly split proof wood ,tough and stringy .It makes timbers that are super strong and planks that will bend under heavy loads and not break as easily as oak .

[penfold]

Elm was used for the keel, but masts have always been the likes of spruce, white pine and douglas.Very straight stems that are not knotty which a square beam is cut, removing sap wood, and the round mast shaped out of that by the mastmaker. It is the rigging that stops the mast from snapping.

 

As i understand it Dean, elm is good when permanently wet- groynes on the beach, keels of boats and in the past as pipes underground before the advent of metal ones- or when permanently dry such as flooring and furniture etc. I have a feeling that exposed to the cycle of drying and getting wet from the weather it may struggle a bit. I have not heard of it used as cladding for example:001_smile:

 

thanks for putting me straight on that tom.