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Elm Burl, huge AAAA Boards!
25.04.2024
Sometimes it takes a while to realize how difficult it is to find and buy beautiful burl wood...in this case it took about 10 years.
In 2014 I was able to buy some slabs of a huge burl of elm wood, which is strangely called elm tree while alive, but after felling and sawing the wood is called Rüster here in German. These large slabs are a type of elm wood, which unfortunately I have not yet been able to classify more precisely: there are three types of native elm trees, the wood of which is probably quite different: The fluttering elm or white elm (Ulmus laevis) , the field elm (Ulmus minor, syn. Ulmus campestris) and the the wych elm or Scots elm (Ulmus glabra). Most elm burls are rather coarse-grained, develop strong cracks during drying and typically have large holes, bark and stone ingrowths and other defects that make it difficult to process. Not so these planks cut from a huge burl trunk, whose wood is finely grained, has very few defects, cracks and holes and is generally lighter in color than the red elm heartwood, which is quite dark. I suspect that this wood comes from the fluttering elm, but I am not sure. Expert advice on how to distinguish between these three species on the basis of their wood is very welcome here!
In the meantime, I bought other even larger burls, which turned out to be much more difficult wood. Cracks, bark and stone ingrowths, coarse structure, enormous warping during drying, the whole package of properties that are not appreciated in wood. And now back to 2014: at that time I was able to buy some slabs that came from this above-mentioned batch, and I didn't even realize how lucky I had been with the beautiful and very low-defect quality of this burl. And any sane person would hardly dare to hope that after such a long time, almost exactly ten years, the rest of the burl boards from 2014 would still be available. After a few phone calls, emails, photos and patience, I then realized that the rest of these magnificent burl slabs still existed in an airy attic and I was able to buy this batch for our company Edelholzverkauf. So now you can find plenty of supplies of this beautiful wood in our elm wood category and the supply for the next few years should be secured!
In 2014 I was able to buy some slabs of a huge burl of elm wood, which is strangely called elm tree while alive, but after felling and sawing the wood is called Rüster here in German. These large slabs are a type of elm wood, which unfortunately I have not yet been able to classify more precisely: there are three types of native elm trees, the wood of which is probably quite different: The fluttering elm or white elm (Ulmus laevis) , the field elm (Ulmus minor, syn. Ulmus campestris) and the the wych elm or Scots elm (Ulmus glabra). Most elm burls are rather coarse-grained, develop strong cracks during drying and typically have large holes, bark and stone ingrowths and other defects that make it difficult to process. Not so these planks cut from a huge burl trunk, whose wood is finely grained, has very few defects, cracks and holes and is generally lighter in color than the red elm heartwood, which is quite dark. I suspect that this wood comes from the fluttering elm, but I am not sure. Expert advice on how to distinguish between these three species on the basis of their wood is very welcome here!
In the meantime, I bought other even larger burls, which turned out to be much more difficult wood. Cracks, bark and stone ingrowths, coarse structure, enormous warping during drying, the whole package of properties that are not appreciated in wood. And now back to 2014: at that time I was able to buy some slabs that came from this above-mentioned batch, and I didn't even realize how lucky I had been with the beautiful and very low-defect quality of this burl. And any sane person would hardly dare to hope that after such a long time, almost exactly ten years, the rest of the burl boards from 2014 would still be available. After a few phone calls, emails, photos and patience, I then realized that the rest of these magnificent burl slabs still existed in an airy attic and I was able to buy this batch for our company Edelholzverkauf. So now you can find plenty of supplies of this beautiful wood in our elm wood category and the supply for the next few years should be secured!