Anybody I.D. this wood?

[dwardo]

I split out a wych elm a few weeks ago and it can have tangled grain but isn't too bad to split. The sapling was about fist thick and near 60 years old. But growing conditions mainly shade would account for this. Tends to be very little dark heartwood in any elm i get to play with.
Bark might give it away when stripping if it has very long fibers.
I agree that sometimes you need the material in your hands to remember what it is. Weight in the hand is a big indicator. Touchy feely works wonders

 

[Irish_Rover]

Somebody else here would have a more definitive answer than me, but as I understand it, this is about the size/age where precisely what you describe will start to happen; I've also read somewhere that there is now a glimmer of hope that nature is taking its course and that the elms that are still around are showing signs of resistance to the virus............wouldn't that be nice, eh?

Yeah, here's hoping. It would be great to see them get established again. It' hard to know but from the pics, Elm seems to be a good awnser. I thought Walnut at first, but there seems to be a more definate transition from sapwood to heartwood. I don't know much about many specific timbers at this stage, still learning, but just giving my two cents

 

[Macaroon]

Thanks for that link, Paul, that's a good resource and I've bookmarked it for future use.............I'm tending towards the laburnum, it seems to fit better than anything else so far - wish I'd thought to bring a bit to the house today.................that's a REALLY interesting article on timber I.D.ing, there's a whole world there, eh?

 

[alex.c]

I would have said that its a bit big for laburnum and the bark looks quite dark and rough
compared to the laburnum i have seen(more a silvery grey colour with smooth bark) but as dave said the grain looks similar however i could be wrong i am definitely not an expert.
Cheers.
Alex.

 

[robin wood]

Sorry there is almost no question it is elm definitely not laburnum. The bark is wrong for laburnum, it is very characteristic also laburnum is bright yellow sapwood and more of it when fresh like this and the sap heart line is almost always straight round a ring where this is typical of elm, laburnum heart is choclaty brown elm heart is this reddy brown. It is slow grown but interesting it starts reasonably well for about 17 years then goes really slow for another 17-19 (as well as can be seen on small image) what happened at 17yrs? it could have been nocked back by elm disease, it is not uncommon now for trees to get it and recover. Or if it was in woodland the canopy could have closed at that point and it was struggling to get light, or if by a road it could have had it's top cut off. effectively pollarded.

It would make good scales, split it into quarters or 1/8s a bit bigger than you need for your scales then it will dry nice and quickly and without splitting at the ends. If you have plenty of extra length I would just leave it at that, if length is tight for scales then seal the end grain with anything you have that will waterproof it, PVA, gloss paint, melted wax varnish etc. bring a few 1/8s indoors and dry them quickly if you like over the fire or in the microwave.

 

[addo]

Looks like some cracking timber. Elm looks really nice as knife scales. Tough stuff too.

I'm afraid Elm is suffering as much as ever. Some hold on but normally die off at around 5-10m height. Wych and English suffer.
I'm still gutted, as after years of enjoying the company of two huge fully mature healthy Elm specimens in the village which was always good to see after a hard days tree inspection, they decided to "switch off" three years ago. They rapidly declined and were stone dead and falling to bits after two years. Real shame to see and would have been an all too often sight back in the 70's.

Just hope the Oak and Ash can fight off the several diseases that are currently attacking them.

 

[Macaroon]

Had a stroke of luck today - was able to track down and speak to the Forestry Commission guy who's overseeing the works in the area this came from; he was both knowledgable and helpful and when I showed him what I had he could have been reading Robin's second post, he remembered where this had been cut and said in his opinion it had been starved of light, hence the slow growth............he also took the time to show me some Laburnum growing locally and pointed out the bark difference..................he then asked why was I so interested and what I wanted the timber for, and when I'd explained he took my number and said he'd give me a call whenever he comes across anything interesting.......now there's a result, eh? I've learned a good deal from having posted this question; thankyou to all who've taken the time to respond, and thanks for the tips on drying and using, Robin.

Amen to your sentiments on the other trees, Addo - we're losing lots of lovely big mature trees here in the lower Wye Valley, and the ground is still so sodden that I fear the worst if we get any kind of a big blow this spring, the shallow - rooted stuff especially....................................atb mac

 

[treebloke]

Looks a lot like Alder to me.

 

[shootthewave]

hi everyone, it looks like scots pine.

 

[shootthewave]

sorry i never knew there were other photo,s looking at them now i am quite sure it is douglas fir

 

[shootthewave]

sorry i never knew there were other photo,s looking at them now i am quite sure it is douglas fir as you can see by the size of the grain it is quick growing.