Abrasive Elm

[JimB]

I've been turning a few chair legs lately from locally sourced elm and noticed that I was having to resharpen more than usual.
Is elm normally abrasive or is it just picking up silica across here? I don't notice this with locally grown ash.

 

[Grahamshed]

My experience is limited but I have just been using a piece of elm for last months egg challenge and I didn't notice it being any different to the Pine or sweet chestnut I have also been using.

 

[Bodrighy]

Elm can be very hard and often has a twisted grain making it even harder on tools. Old elm in particular.

Pete

 

[CHJ]

I've been turning a few chair legs lately from locally sourced elm and noticed that I was having to resharpen more than usual.
Is elm normally abrasive or is it just picking up silica across here? I don't notice this with locally grown ash.

Has it been grown in an area subject to sand/dust contamination? it's not unknown for timber with textured bark to trap the extra silica that way during growth and incorporate it in the timber.
There are also problems in plantation grown trees in NSW for instance where additional feeding results in high silica content.

 

[Grahamshed]

Chas, you are a veritable font of information

 

[CHJ]

It's not unusual to have shelter belt trees planted around plantations to reduce wind blown contaminants as much as wind protection itself and I've heard old school cabinet makers complaining about mahogany etc. being from such sources.

 

[Grahamshed]

It makes sense.

 

[JimB]

Chas, that fits the bill. We are in a relatively low rainfall area, periodic droughts and lots of windblown dust in the drier parts of the year. I was wondering if the silica was pulled up through the root system but your explanation makes more sense.
Pete, I'm used to hard timbers - most of ours are and this wear is more than that.
On the plus side, it's a lovely wood and fairly easy to come by at the moment as so many trees over here are at or past maturity.
And no-one mentioned cricket.
ps and thanks for the comparison Graham.

 

[woodfarmer]

It's not unusual to have shelter belt trees planted around plantations to reduce wind blown contaminants as much as wind protection itself and I've heard old school cabinet makers complaining about mahogany etc. being from such sources.

I used to fix the computer for a joinery company many years ago. They used to complain bitterly about the timber they got from Russia. It wasn't unusual for a sawblade to disintegrate when it found some shrapnel or old bullets embedded into the timber from the war.

 

[JimB]

I used to fix the computer for a joinery company many years ago. They used to complain bitterly about the timber they got from Russia. It wasn't unusual for a sawblade to disintegrate when it found some shrapnel or old bullets embedded into the timber from the war.

Nasty, the nearest I came to that was turning a piece of walnut that came from a driveway between two feuding families. Shotgun pellets don't ruin your tools!

 

[Finial]

I once knew a bowl turner who used lots of Sussex elm. He thought it depended on the soil. Some of the elm had visible white mineral deposits in the wood and he said as soon as the gouge touched one the edge was lost. I think it must be drawn up from the roots because the deposits are isolated in the wood and other species are not like that. Can dust from the bark get incorporated into the wood? The wood forms underneath the bark, the bark doesn't get converted to wood.

Terry

 

[JimB]

Thanks Terry. The elm does have white flecks in it which I assume are silica from the quartz rich soils here. I checked on my botany and it does seem that air-borne dust would have to be driven a long way into the cambium layer for it to get into the grain which is unlikely.
I wonder if the finer dust might make a difference when rain finally comes and everything that is washed off the tree and its leaves eventually becomes available to the roots.