Elm for drawers?

[David Knight]

All good Tom. Interestingly, the forum software caught my acronym and politely changed it to “person.”

I’ve used American elm on numerous projects and never had problems. I really like the feathering look you get in the plane sawn face.

[Mike Brady]

Hey, Joe-  Good to hear from you again.  I would go the poplar route for a couple of reasons.  First, the bold elm grain and the QSWO figure are going to clash.  I know the drawers will only show when open, but....


Second, you can get good poplar right at Home Depot in the hardwoods department.  I buy it there frequently for drawer sides.  They have 1/2" or 3/4", X 3' or 8'.  You can get poplar cheaper at Owl Lumber.  I like the poplar for dovetailing with harder wood drawer fronts.

[EricU]

Penn State has been keeping their elms alive at great expense.  Alumni seem to like them, so they keep dumping money into the project.  But they do have to cut one down occasionally.  You can buy the lumber if your timing is right.  I see some local vendors selling things made from it occasionally.  The wood I have seen is straight grained and fairly plain looking. I imagine it would work for drawers. The trunks on most of these trees are straight and fairly large.

There are a couple of streets on campus that used to be lined with elms that are now virtually treeless.  I wish they had given up a little earlier on some of the trees. Ice storms are bad, the elms are big and some of the branches can be deadly.  A student was killed a while back by a falling branch.

[joemac]

My elm has been in my wood stack for 15 years. Where I got it or why is a mystery lost to my addled brain. I have that and quite a bit of hard maple, walnut and cherry. Along with a boat load of QSWO. Just trying to use up what I have, as the Warden sees little humor in my acquiring any more wood until I thin the current heard a bit. She is peculiar like that. Go figure.