American Elm

Elm's defining property is that it will not split. Its grain interlocks — fibers alternating direction layer by layer — which makes riving it along the grain nearly impossible and gives the wood exceptional resistance to splitting under stress.

That single trait explains most of elm's historical uses. Wagon wheel hubs, which take spokes driven radially into them from every direction, were elm. Chair seats, which get bored full of holes for legs and spindles and then need to hold together anyway, are traditionally elm in the English tradition. Mallet heads, butcher blocks, and anything else that gets hit repeatedly: elm.

Working it

The interlocked grain that makes elm tough also makes it awkward:

• Tearout is constant on plain-sawn faces under a plane or router, because there is no "with the grain" direction that stays correct for the whole board. Take light passes, skew the cut, or finish with a scraper.
• It's stringy. Elm fuzzes and tears rather than cutting crisply when tooling is dull. Sharp edges matter here more than the density suggests.
• It steam-bends superbly. The same interlocking that resists splitting lets elm take a tight bend without failing — it's among the best bending woods available, alongside ash and oak.
• It has an odor. Freshly cut elm, particularly the wetter species, smells distinctly unpleasant. It dissipates on drying.

Dutch elm disease

American elm was one of the great American street trees, planted in vast numbers along boulevards for its arching vase-shaped canopy. Dutch elm disease — a fungus spread by bark beetles, first identified in the US in 1928 — has killed the overwhelming majority of mature American elms since.

Elm lumber still comes to market, largely from surviving rural and salvaged trees, and disease-resistant cultivars are being planted. But it's no longer a commodity hardwood you can count on your dealer stocking, and prices reflect that. If you find good elm, buy it when you see it.

Finishing

Coarse, open, ring-porous texture — it will not go glass-smooth without grain filler, and looks entirely right with an oil finish that leaves the pore structure visible. It takes stain reasonably evenly.

Typical Uses

Chair seats and Windsor-style stick chairs, furniture, boxes, butcher blocks, mallet heads, veneer, and historically wheel hubs and boat parts.