Stocks Made From Elm....A Question, Please

[woodsrunner]

We see various degrees of striping, tiger striping or whatever you want to call it on the Maples and Walnut used for stocks. My question is....has anyone ever seen stripping on either of the Elms used for stock wood? I never have, and I don't think that the cellular structure of Elm wood will produce stripping. Am I blind and wrong about this?

[Daryl]

I can't say that I've ever seen an Elm stock, nor have I heard of anyone making a stock of it.

Elm makes great bows, though as-does Hickory.  I've never seen a Hickory gun stock, either.

[The other DWS]

It may depend on the species of elm.   In my youth my grandad used a wood furnace for heat and we cut a LOT of firewood on the farm.  In the winter after things froze up we cut a lot of old dead standing swamp/water/pi$$-elm that had been killed in the dutch-elm blight.  I did a lot of the splitting with mauls and wedges and it had a very complex very fibrous grain structure that was really hard to split.  The firewood chunk were darn near knit together.   I don't know how good elm would be for stock wood but I'd bet that would have had some neat figure if sawed right

[rich pierce]

It can look interesting and as mentioned is unlikely to split.  On the other hand it will not work well with planes, spokeshaves etc compared to other woods as it is always partly cross-grained.  I would use it for applications where I want to be sure the object will not split.  Some Scandinavian guns were stocked in elm.  Maybe it's all they had.

[Herb]

Arn built the teahouse for my wife, and I built him this .40 caplock in trade.  He could have any wood, but he wanted Chinese Elm.  He did not want it stained.  It can have some really nice figure, and he uses it in furniture.  Cottonwood can also have some impressive figure.

[volatpluvia]

Nice kitty cat up at the comb on the cheek side of the stock.
volatpluvia

[JDK]

Looked like an owl to me.   I like it.  J.D.K.

[DutchGramps]

Loooong ago I built a free rifle (sorry, Mauser action, Kongsberg barrel) with a Dutch elm stock. A pleasure to work that wood, very stable after 20 years drying. No striping, some flames like the Chinese elm

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

I've often wondered myself why certain woods were chosen and other not. I always assumed it was for hardness and durability, and as a secondary choice appearance of the grain. If that is the case then the only reason I can see for not using elm is the difficulty to split the stuff. I think that in old times gunstock blanks would have likely been split from logs the same way a lot of furniture wood was. And then trued up with planes and shaves.

[Daryl]

Tks Herb - first one for me - a MOST interesting stock figure indeed.  I can see it in a vermin gun , for sure, but it does look special in that little caplock.

[Tom Moore]

I have a 25lb chunk gun made by Michael Zerbe that's stocked in red elm. It has a beautiful feathered looking stripe. I'll try to take some pictures tonight and post them soon. -Tom

[grabenkater]

I have a M95 Steyr made in 1917 with an elm stock.

[woodsrunner]

Is there any chance that you could post photos of the Steyr with the Elm stock? My original question about Elm was triggered by concerns expressed about ID'ing Elm used on 98k's....another message board. I know that ocassionally Elm will appear on an original Longrifle.

[Daryl]

Guys- please exchange your modern rifle pictures using private messages only.

[GANGGREEN]

I just found this thread using the search function.  While patrolling my woods the other day, I found one American elm that is absolutely dying of Dutch elm and a larger one nearby that may be succumbing as well.  Both would easily be big enough to provide some blanks for stocks and I might have to consider it, since I don't have any other uses in mind at the moment.

[alyce-james]

A definitive Santa Clause if I ever saw one. AJ.

[rich pierce]

I just found this thread using the search function.  While patrolling my woods the other day, I found one American elm that is absolutely dying of Dutch elm and a larger one nearby that may be succumbing as well.  Both would easily be big enough to provide some blanks for stocks and I might have to consider it, since I don't have any other uses in mind at the moment.

Keep in mind all the hours that go into building from a blank.  There is satisfaction from cutting and curing and using your own wood, but if the end result isn't pleasing, you might have been better off with a purchased blank.

Elm makes good firewood and epic exercise splitting it by hand.

[GANGGREEN]

I just found this thread using the search function.  While patrolling my woods the other day, I found one American elm that is absolutely dying of Dutch elm and a larger one nearby that may be succumbing as well.  Both would easily be big enough to provide some blanks for stocks and I might have to consider it, since I don't have any other uses in mind at the moment.

Keep in mind all the hours that go into building from a blank.  There is satisfaction from cutting and curing and using your own wood, but if the end result isn't pleasing, you might have been better off with a purchased blank.

Elm makes good firewood and epic exercise splitting it by hand.

Ha ha!  You may have a point.  I simply found at least one elm dying and another that may be on the way and I'd like to find some reasonable use for them.  Although the kids occasionally burn a "bonfire" outside, we don't burn wood, so cutting and splitting for firewood doesn't make any sense in my case.  I think I can have it milled reasonably inexpensively, at which point I can find a use for it or store it in my barn for a rainy day.  Thanks for your thoughts.

[jkingrph]

I have two military rifles, a Swesish M96 Mauser with an elm stock and a Yogo 46 or 48 Mauser that have elm stocks.  The both have pronounced striping, running the length of the stock fine alternating bands dark and light, much like quarter sawed pine.

[Kermit]

About 40 years ago I built bedroom furniture for my daughter (5 at the time) using some nice elm lumber I came across. She still has it in her guest room. No one ever guesses the wood correctly; some think it's ash.

You might want to see if any local sawyers are interested in your trees as saw logs.

[GANGGREEN]

It's nice hearing that other people have made use of the elm.  I live in a pretty good timber area and I rarely, if ever, hear of any interest in elm, so I'd be shocked if I could find anyone that had enough interest in these couple of logs to make it worth my time from a financial standpoint.  I do have another small logging operation that I need to address though (just a few special trees on the property), so I'll probably get these cut and have them milled for myself at some point.  I don't know what I'll do with them yet, but they won't cost me anything sitting in my barn and will be available for any special projects that I come up with.

I also have a friend who builds long and recurve bows and I believe elm to be fairly highly desired for that purpose, so I'll see to it that he ends up with a bit of it.

[WadePatton]

I have big elm down from ice storm 2 years ago.  It's just now getting ripe for cutting splitting and stacking (wood is my heat source).  I've hated enough elm that I don't think I'll make any stocks or furniture from it.  Too much cherry and walnut and maple around here for that.

best of luck.

[WKevinD]

Elm is one of those woods I leave in the woods. It does not split, it shreds and it does not burn, it smolders, never really giving off any noticeable heat.
There are so many other good woods for stocks that are so much friendlier to work with I can't see a reason to use it other than to be unique.
My bias, have fun with you choices.

[GANGGREEN]

Elm is one of those woods I leave in the woods. It does not split, it shreds and it does not burn, it smolders, never really giving off any noticeable heat.
There are so many other good woods for stocks that are so much friendlier to work with I can't see a reason to use it other than to be unique.
My bias, have fun with you choices.

No, I trust the board members and this is why I suggested it.  I'll use the elm for furniture or something else and leave the stocks to the hard maples and cherries of the world.  I just hate seeing a nice tree die on my property, I don't burn wood, and I hate the thought of just letting it rot there.  That said, I have 100+ acres of trees and I surely can't use all of them and I haven't convinced myself that it's time to timber yet.

[mparker762]

One good thing about elm is you'd never worry about the wrist splitting on you.  The wood fibers in elm are practically braided together.