A few months back, I posted some pictures of a large elm tree that grows on the street next to our cafe. Around the middle of this summer, a branch broke off this tree. It fell on a much larger lower branch and that one broke too. They both crashed into the street. Fortunately, this occurred early on a Sunday morning so there were no cars parked there. Had there been, there would have been no avoiding serious damage. The city got the fallen branches "cleaned up" before I ever heard about it.
A few weeks ago, some guys from the city came by to let us know that they were going to be performing some serious trimming on this tree and that the street would be closed on that day. I jumped all over it and they gladly agreed to let me have any of the wood I wanted. Part of the plan was to take off the large upper burl so I was especially interested in that.
When the day arrived, my son and I were there, ready to load up as much wood as we could. We were somewhat unprepared for the furious maelstrom that was to ensue. These guys were not messing around. They had a nuclear powered tree shredder the like of which I have not seen. This thing was capable of rendering a two foot diameter limb into dust on seconds. My vision of these large limbs being carted off the the local wood dump or rolled off the the side of the street where we could leisurely cut them up vanished. My son and I had to scramble to actually get any of the wood. We managed to talk one of the cutters into whacking off several sections of the larger limbs and we did end up with some decent pieces.
The sad part is that they discovered that this whole tree is decayed through the center. The city arborist was there and he decided that the entire tree posed a hazard and would have to be removed. So before the burl was removed, the trimming was aborted. We were told that it would be rescheduled for sometime next spring and that they would be taking down the whole tree. This is not something we were pleased to hear. This tree is a wonderful presence. It adds so much to our location and we will be very sorry to have it gone. It's no "ancient kauri" but it's over 150 years old. I have to admit to some lusting over those burls but not to the extent that I would want to lose the whole tree.
Again, I have been promised "as much of the wood as I want". Well, I want a lot of it! Even the smaller limbs which were decayed in the center still had a lot of very usable, sound wood. The upper burl definitely has some decay in the center but the guy that was up there said it looked like it was confined to the pith so there should still be some very nice stuff in there. The lower burl is, very likely, completely sound.
We are planning this time and we will be armed for bear when this tree comes down. The city said we could cut pieces with our own saws as long as we wear hardhats and stay out of their "safety zone". They will drop pieces on a trailer for up to take elsewhere to be cut up.
OK… long story to get to this bowl which is turned from a piece of the elm. I wanted to see how this wood would look and how it would turn. And, of course, I wanted to see how my new "Rube Goldberg Belt Tensioning Device" would work out. I am happy to report that the device worked well and this time, the Dynamotor made it through the entire bowl! And this ain't too bad lookin' wood. I'm not at all sure what the call this form except a natural edge bowl with a beaded foot. It's the first time I have attempted a form like this although I have seen many fine examples.
Oh... I almost forgot... here's the pic.
elm_ne_1.jpg
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