Yes that’s right we have now got stock of Elm, grown in
Elm is traditionally used for items such as keels and lock gates as it
is highly durable when permanently wet.
It also has some other useful properties such as resistance to
splitting. For more
about the uses and properties of elm see below the price table.
More about elm
Elm is a beautiful timber that, until the ravages of Dutch Elm Disease in the 60s and 70s, was much used in
Elm has especially beautiful grain and character, but it has many other
properties useful to the woodworker. Elm
can be bent (when fresh and unseasoned) in much the same way as oak. It is a strong and tough timber, with
particular resistance to splitting, hence traditional chair bases were made of
elm as other local woods could never have been cut to a width of 16 inches or
so without a strong likelihood of splitting.
For the same reason elm was the wood used for the hubs of
cartwheels.
A simple kitchen chair showing the
typical elm base.
Elm is also highly durable when permanently wet, which led to it being
used for boat keels, lock gates, pilings, even water pipes. In 1926 a length of elm water piping dating
from around 1690 was dug up in Carmarthen and found to be still sound.
Probably the most common use of elm which we can still appreciate today
is furniture. Although sometimes
mistaken for oak, much pre-Victorian furniture was partly or wholly made of
elm. With modern furniture construction
methods (using chipboard etc) elm has been used mainly as veneer which shows
off its beautiful grain.
Elm can be difficult to work thanks to its uneven grain, though modern
machine tools largely overcome this. Here
is a new skeg constructed by the proprietor of
Boatbuilding Timber Supplies a few years ago for a local boat which has an elm
keel, and originally had elm frames.
New skeg
ready to bolt on.