FINAL RESTING PLACE

Thus ends the saga of that poor elm tree that had been destined for the wood stove. This once great American Elm is now part of a one of a kind platform style bed. I wanted to build not just your typical bed, but one with a large storage capacity. As you can see from the second photo, there will be four large drawers, two on each side. Cherry is being used to compliment and add a warmer tone to the very distinctive grain of the elm.

The headboard was a treat to make. Hopefully the top photo shows the slight curve, creating a wrap-a-round effect. I made a quarter inch solid cherry veneer for the top edge of the 'wave' to give an otherwise square object softer lines.

The finish consists of six coats of hand rubbed pure tung oil using a citrus solvent as a thinner for the first two coats.

DRYING TIME

Drying time can vary depending on humidity thickness of the boards, and the type of wood. Elm being very dense takes up to a year for this 6/4 thickness. I had no idea what I was going to make with this lumber but felt that 6/4 would be versatile enough for several applications. So off to the drawing board and see what develops. This wood will dry for about a year, so more on this later.

This wood was actually cut in late spring of 2009.

MAKING LUMBER

Sawing logs with a band saw mill is not my favorite but at the time it was available and hauling the logs was but a short distance away. I had marked the logs on the end as to how I wanted them sawn but the sawyer made some changes on the second of the three logs and I ended up with checks that could have been avoided. I'll drive further next time.

IT ALL STARTS HERE

Ulmus americana, generally known as the American Elm or, less commonly, as the White Elm or Water Elm, is a species native to eastern North America, occurring from Nova Scotia west as far as British Columbia, from northern Alberta at the top of its range, south to Florida and central Texas. It is an extremely hardy tree that can withstand winter temperatures as low as −42 °C (−44 °F). Trees in areas unaffected by Dutch elm disease can live for several hundred years. The preceding statement was from Wikipedia.
This particular tree was in a neighbor's yard and wanted it cut down for firewood, but when I saw what it was, the simple act of asking to cut it down for lumber gave way to some really nice boards. During the next few posts I will take you through the process of turning this standing dead tree into a couple of unique pieces of furniture.