UTILIZATION OF ELM. 
21 
material for bending, considerable difficulty is experienced from 
splintering and breaking because pieces as much as 2 inches square 
must be bent quite sharply at right angles. Figure 7 shows some of 
the common bent forms used. A good supply of satisfactory elm 
material is important to automobile body makers, for they consider 
Fig. 7. — Some common forms of elm bent-wood, pieces used in automobile bodies. The most exacting 
demands are made upon the wood by the forms a and b, used for back rails, on account of the sharp- 
ness of the bends. The two common modes of failure in bending are illustrated in b, which is a cull 
piece; in the right-hand bend at x splintering tension has taken place, and the left-hand bend shows 
compression failure at y, the fibers of the wood being folded over. The forms c and d are not so difficult 
to make, since the bends are more gradual. 
that no other wood can replace it for the back rails, wheel housings 
(where thin material is bent in curved form), and other small bent 
pieces (fig. 8). Elm from southern Michigan is considered not so 
satisfactory for these uses as that from the northern part of the 
southern peninsula. That from the extreme southern States is con- 
Fig. 8.— Partially assembled wooden framework of automobile body. The bent-wood piece (a) forming 
the back rail of the rear seat is soft elm, and also the circular piece (&), above where the wheel is to be 
located. The triangular blocks (c and d) to the right of each side door at the base are rock elm. 
sidered inferior because of the presence of numerous defects. Ma- 
terial is secured mostly in the form of 1 and 2 inch lumber, and a 
large supply is usually kept on hand. Many automobile body makers 
report a purchase price of from $40 to $50 a thousand for various 
grades of white and rock elm. Thirty-eight doUars is the average 
price reported by a considerable number of such manufacturers, which 
