Ulmus procera
Rare salvaged hardwood with interlocked grain, wild figure, and exceptional steam-bending behaviour. Hard-won material with genuine craft heritage.
Al momento non è disponibile English Elm. Queste specie sono adatte agli stessi progetti e hanno pezzi disponibili.
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Aspetto del legno
Heartwood ranges from light reddish-brown to a warmer chocolate tone, often with darker streaks and a greenish or olive cast in some boards. Sapwood is paler and clearly distinct. The grain is interlocked rather than straight, which produces a wild, partridge-like figure on flat-sawn faces and a ribbon stripe on quartered cuts. Texture is coarse and open-pored. Burr and crotch sections show some of the most dramatic figure of any European hardwood.
Lavorazione
Interlocked grain is the defining challenge. Plane with very sharp blades, take light cuts, and reduce cutter angles where possible, a 20 degree bevel-up plane or a high-angle bench plane (50–55 degrees) controls tearout well. Finish with a card scraper rather than fighting the planer. Sawing and routing are reasonable with sharp tooling, but expect to climb-cut on figured sections. Turning is enjoyable. Glue-up and screwing are straightforward. Steam-bending is where elm is unmatched: Windsor-chair seats and bow-backs are traditionally elm for good reason, and tight radii hold without splitting.
The open, coarse pores benefit from grain filler if you want a glass-smooth surface; left unfilled, the texture reads as honest and tactile. Hard-wax oils and natural oils warm the colour and bring out the figure without flattening it. Water-based finishes keep the tone cooler and more contemporary. Sand methodically through the grits, interlocked grain can leave fine scratches if you skip steps. Test your finish on offcuts, as colour shift can be noticeable.
Elm has a reputation for being awkward to dry. Tangential movement is high relative to radial, and boards can twist, cup, or distort if rushed or poorly stickered. Slow, careful drying with consistent stickering and weight on the stack pays off. Once stable at service moisture content, it behaves well in interior conditions. Acclimatise boards in the workshop before final dimensioning.
Il legno si gonfia e si ritira in larghezza al variare dell’umidità dell’aria. Stima il movimento stagionale di un piano in English Elm prima di progettare i fissaggi.
Movimento stagionale previsto
circa 9,1 mm
Fissa il piano con nottolini o staffe asolate, non con colla o viti serrate.
Modello di ritiro lineare: larghezza × (ritiro ÷ 28 % di saturazione delle fibre) × variazione stagionale dell’umidità. Usa un ritiro tangenziale del 8 % per English Elm. È una stima di progetto, non una garanzia.
Il prezzo attuale del legname di English Elm in Europa, al metro cubo IVA esclusa. Tocca un prezzo per i dettagli.
Elm dust is a known sensitiser and can cause respiratory and skin irritation with repeated exposure. All hardwood dust is classified IARC Group 1 (carcinogenic to humans), so use proper extraction at the source, an FFP3 mask for sanding and routing, and keep workshop surfaces clean. The wood itself is safe for food-contact applications such as chopping boards and serving pieces once finished with a food-safe oil.
Native across Europe, with English Elm long associated with British hedgerow landscapes. Standing populations were decimated by Dutch elm disease from the 1960s onward, and most material on the market today comes from salvaged trunks, standing-dead recovery, or estate fellings. Each board carries the history of a tree that survived, or the story of one being put to good use after disease took it.
Native to Europe, but wild populations have been heavily reduced by Dutch elm disease since the 1960s and the IUCN currently lists status as Data Deficient. Standing healthy material is genuinely rare. Most slabs on the market come from salvage, standing-dead recovery, storm-felled trees, or estate fellings, which makes elm one of the more circular hardwoods to specify, but also means supply is irregular and piece-by-piece. No CITES restrictions apply. EUDR due diligence is in preparation and becomes mandatory for large operators from 30 December 2026, and KORENA is building each slab passport to carry its provenance.
Ulmus procera is defined by one structural property: its grain interlocks. Fibres run in alternating directions rather than parallel, layer by layer through the wood.
That single fact explains both why elm is prized and why it is difficult.
It is prized because interlocked grain resists splitting almost completely. A Windsor chair seat is bored with a dozen mortices close together and then has legs and a back driven into them; in almost any other timber it would split between the holes. Elm does not. The same property made it the traditional timber for wheel hubs, which take spokes radially under load, and for chopping blocks that are struck repeatedly.
It is difficult because the same reversing grain tears out under a plane, every few millimetres, in both directions.
Dutch elm disease killed most mature elms across Europe from the 1960s onward, and the effect on supply was severe enough that a generation of makers stopped specifying it.
The IUCN lists Ulmus procera as Data Deficient, meaning there is insufficient information for a formal assessment rather than that the species is secure.
Elm has not disappeared. It regenerates vigorously from root suckers, and those regrowth trees reach modest size before the disease reaches them again. Standing dead timber and salvage continue to come to market.
What this means practically: elm is available but irregular, sizes are modest, and large clean boards are genuinely scarce. Buy when you see the right piece rather than expecting to order it.
Elm is busy. It is ring porous with strong contrast between earlywood and latewood, and the grain is frequently wild and swirling, particularly near crotches.
Colour runs light to mid reddish brown with paler sapwood.
Burr elm, from burls and root crowns, is among the most decorative surfaces available from any European species, dense with swirling eyes and irregular figure. It is priced accordingly.
Even plain elm reads considerably busier than oak, which is either the attraction or the objection.
Plan for tear-out. The interlocked grain reverses direction continuously, so no single planing direction works across a whole board.
The answer is light cuts, very sharp tooling, and a high angle plane or a card scraper for the final surface. A helical cutterhead earns its cost on this species more than on almost any other here. On burr elm, hand finishing is normal.
At 3,680 N it is soft, softer than oak by a good margin, so it is easy on tooling in terms of blunting even while being awkward in terms of grain.
It glues and screws well, and the split resistance means it takes fastenings close to edges better than most.
Elm has one of the strangest durability profiles in this catalogue.
In ordinary exposure it is decay class 5, perishable. It rots quickly in the wetting and drying cycle of normal outdoor use.
Permanently waterlogged, it is exceptionally durable. Elm was the standard timber for water pipes, lock gates, pile foundations and harbour works for centuries, and elm piles under medieval structures survive today.
Permanently wet works. Permanently dry works. The cycle between them does not.
Volumetric shrinkage of 12.0 percent is moderate, with tangential at 7.0 percent against radial at 4.0 percent, a reasonable differential.
Elm dries with a marked tendency to distort, though, driven by the interlocked grain rather than by the shrinkage figures. Weighting and careful stickering matter.
Chair seats and any component bored with multiple close mortices, chopping blocks, turned work, and decorative slabs and panels where the bold figure or burr is the design intent. Also anything permanently submerged.
It is the wrong answer for ordinary exterior use, for a quiet uniform surface, and where a large matched volume is needed.
Not CITES listed. Listed by the IUCN as Data Deficient, which KORENA displays as-is rather than interpreting. Supply is irregular and often comes from salvage and disease felling rather than managed forestry, so the chain behind a given slab is short and non-standardised. The yard and region are recorded on every listing.
Domande degli acquirenti
Yes, but the supply picture is unusual. Dutch elm disease killed most mature elms across Europe from the 1960s onward, and the IUCN lists Ulmus procera as Data Deficient. Trees still regenerate from suckers and reach modest size before the disease takes them again, and standing dead and salvaged timber continues to reach the market. Supply is real but irregular, and large clean boards are scarce.
Interlocked grain. Elm fibres run in alternating directions, which makes the wood extremely resistant to splitting. That is exactly what a Windsor chair seat needs, because it is bored with many mortices close together and any other wood would split between them. The same property makes elm the traditional wood for wheel hubs and chopping blocks.
Yes. The interlocked grain that stops it splitting also makes it tear out badly, because the grain direction reverses every few millimetres. Light cuts, very sharp tooling and a high angle plane or scraper for the final surface are essential. A helical cutterhead makes a large difference.
Elm has an unusual durability profile. It is rated decay class 5 in normal exposure, but it is exceptionally durable when permanently waterlogged, which is why it was used for water pipes, lock gates and pile foundations for centuries. Permanently wet or permanently dry both work; the wetting and drying cycle of ordinary outdoor use does not.
Bold and irregular. Elm is ring porous with strong growth ring contrast and often wild, swirling grain, particularly near crotches and burrs. Burr elm is among the most decorative surfaces available from any European species. Plain elm still reads far busier than oak.
Proprietà meccaniche
Valori di riferimento pubblicati. Quando le fonti non concordano, viene mostrato l’intervallo e il valore tipico è usato per le scale sopra.
| Densità (kg/m³)Massa per metro cubo con circa il 12 % di umidità. In genere, un legno più pesante è anche più duro e resistente. | 500–620 kg/m³valore tipico 560 kg/m³ |
|---|---|
| Durezza Janka (N)Forza necessaria per spingere una sfera d’acciaio fino a metà nel legno. È la misura standard della resistenza alle ammaccature. | 3,300–4,000 Nvalore tipico 3680 N |
| MOR: modulo di rottura (MPa)Resistenza alla flessione: il carico al quale una trave si rompe. | 65–85 MPa |
| MOE: modulo elastico (GPa)Rigidità alla flessione: quanto si incurva una mensola o un piano sotto carico. | 7.0–9.0 GPa |
| Ritiro radialeRitiro trasversale agli anelli di crescita, dal legno verde a quello anidro. È il movimento delle tavole a taglio radiale. | 4.0–5.0 % |
| Ritiro tangenzialeRitiro lungo gli anelli di crescita. È il movimento delle tavole a taglio tangenziale e della maggior parte delle tavole KORENA. | 7.0–9.0 % |
| Ritiro volumetricoVariazione totale del volume dal legno verde a quello anidro. Un valore più basso indica maggiore stabilità. | 12.0–14.0 % |
| Durabilità naturale (EN 350)Norma europea per la resistenza naturale al deterioramento, da 1 (molto durevole) a 5 (non durevole). | Class 5 — Perishable |
Durezza Janka: 3680 N
26 % più tenero della quercia europea
560 kg/m³
Ritiro volumetrico 13,0 %
3,4 / 5 media di lavorazione
Classe EN 350 5
Perché una tavola costa più di questo?
Questi sono prezzi del legname grezzo. Una tavola è il taglio migliore di un tronco, essiccato per almeno un anno e poi controllato e misurato pezzo per pezzo. Solo una piccola parte di ogni tronco diventa una tavola.
Fonte: KORENA Timber Index · Dati più recenti: 24 set 2026
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