What would elm look like? We have an elm beam in our house, but that leaves me none the wiser either!
I know the beam is elm as I bought it from a reclamation place that I trust (someone I know works there) and it was sold to me as elm, but, again, I know very little!
If you look at Julian F's second photo down you will see splashes of lighter colour across the grain of the timber, these are what is known as medullary rays & show up on the surface of the wood when the saw cut is at a certain angle to the growth rings of the tree. They are typical of English oak.
Elm dos not show these & has a pinkish tone as in seadogs photo.
In the top photo from the bluing round the nail heads I would say it is oak. Beech is used in a lot of furniture and has closer grain and is a lot lighter in colour.
Hi julianf The second of your pics shows Medullary Rays in oak , google medullary rays ,there's plenty of info there , sometimes called Tiger oak , dream up something ornamental to make with it ,or maybe sand and polish a patch first ,so you appreciate what I'm talking about first , there'll be plenty on here who would gladly take that off you. All the Best desmo11225