Winged Elm Steaming

[Scrub_buck]

Finally had time to reduce a relatively small winged elm stave down to near bow dimensions today.  I cut the tree mid Feb, and it has been in my garage since.  It was very straight when I split it, but it has dried some with a little bow to it side-to-side.  It is a very clean piece of wood with no knots and I am excited to maybe get a bow out of it that I could hunt with this fall.

My daddy-in-law and I made a form (again, per Dean's recommendations) and I had a fellow weld me up an aluminim tube to steam staves in (similar to Torges rig in his book).  I am probably going to steam it this weekend.

I have never steamed anything but vegetables (LOL) and I am wondering what differences Elm might need versus Osage (I have only the Torges method to draw on).  Torges claims for osage 1.5 hours steaming would get the wood where you could fix the issues easily and clamp to a form to get the stave dancing to the right tune, so to speak. 

Any of you out there have experience steaming 4 month garage dried elm?  Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!  I don't have a moisture meter, but the reduced stave felt light to me ... like it had really dried out a bunch in my garage.  You all think another month or so of drying after the re-acclimation from steaming would be sufficient for floor tillering?  I do have a hot box I can put it in as well.

Thanks in advance,
Sandy 

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[Hillbilly]

Never tried steaming winged elm, but slippery elm bends pretty good after about 45 minutes steaming under foil over a coffee can on a coleman stove. Not as easy as osage or locust, but it bent pretty well for me. Those side-to-side doglegs are tough to bend out when the wood is wider than it is thick. With something like that, I usually cut it to the back profile to make it narrower (just make the centerline follow the center of the stave, crooks and all,) and leave the stave full thickness so that it'll bend sideways easier. If you can get the section you need to bend as thick or thicker than it is wide, it'll go a lot easier. Winged elm is good stuff, one of the densest of the elms.

[Pappy]

Never steamed any white wood but it should work fine,I would seal it before I steamed it ,the same I do with Osage. I also would have it floor tillered before I started,it will bend much easier that way.
If you don't get it all out you can tweak it with dry heat as you are working on the bow. Never
read Dean's book so I don't know how he dose it.      
   Pappy