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Turned some elm this evening.

1K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  9thousandfeet 
#1 · (Edited)
Got a pile of freebie cut offs at the saw mill last Friday. red oak, pin oak. and elm. Turned red oak already. Not an easy wood for turning, but doable. Turned some pin oak yesterday. It actually turned ok. Turned some cherry this am, piece of cake. turned some elm this evening. One catch after another. Changed the tool rest height, changed tools changed speeds, the bowl gouge was the worst offender, but the skew worked pretty good. Till it was done, I had to scrape or turn away several of the catches. But when I got to sanding, it sanded up very well.
 
#2 · (Edited)
I turn a fair bit of elm.
When green, like most woods, it turns just fine, but when dry it can be dusty and unpleasant to turn and enormously difficult avoid tearout.
It dulls tools unmercifully.
I'll often only get a single pass on a salad bowl-sized piece before having to touch up the edge on a gouge, so working with it can be a bit of a struggle.

But it's tough as nails, and makes for an almost unbreakable bowl. This one is about 10" diameter with walls somewhat less than 1/4" thick and you can literally stand on it, or even stomp on it, without damage.
Makes great tool handles too.
 

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