Timber ID

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

and burrs present too, really dangerous!!

[julcle]

I tend to agree with John, if it is Witch Elm you really don't want to touch it.

[DaveH]

Don't worry I have me talismans and anti witch lotion at the ready LOL

[DaveH]

elm is made up of quite a few species but i'm going to say that this is wych elm (ulmus glabra) going by the colour of it. it should weigh about 8.5kg if it is.

Its actually 9.5 kg, from its appearance on the uncut end I would say that its a VERY old piece ( I dont know where it was sourced)

[seventhdevil]

100% wych elm then.

it's that faint green streak that gives it away. so far as i know it's the only elm species that has any sort of green in it at all.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

100% wych elm then.

it's that faint green streak that gives it away. so far as i know it's the only elm species that has any sort of green in it at all.

f I am not mistaken French Elm has green flecks present?

[seventhdevil]

and what's the species name for french elm? ulmus glabra does grow in other countries.

[DaveH]

Just an update on this piece of timber, I finally got around to having a go at it.
To be honest I had a few problems with it, not east of all the fact that it was unbelievably hard. It also had quite a bit of worm damage to one side and on starting to hollow it out I found it had a huge crack from top to bottom which I ended up filling with epoxy/brass mix.
It ended up 10" x 6"







I will admit that I struggled with the bottom of the inside mainly because it was so hard.

[Les Symonds]

It certainly was a fine piece of timber, and the natural features simply add to the character.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but by choosing that shape, you've made a rod for your own back! Any bowl with steep sides and a flat bottom is going to be more difficult to finish because it's so difficult to sweep the gouge through the shape when you're hollowing the bowl. I'm guessing that you were ok on the walls, but then got into problems finishing around the radius and onto the bottom. Try making your bowls with more of a continuous curve, down through the wall into the bottom, unlike the two distinct planes that you have created. This will make for a much more harmonious and eye-pleasing curve, and it's much easier to swing the tool-rest into the inside of the bowl and get a good finish on it.
Les