# Siberian Elm?



## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

I bought 7 of these flitches recently for 100 bucks. At 7' long x 17" wide x 5/4 thick I'm under $2 per bdft, and its pretty. 
Anyway, the guy who sawed it said it is called Siberian Elm. I found lots if info on Russian Elm, but he specifically said its not "Russian", its "Siberian" elm. 

Here's a flitch (please don't mind my messy basement)










Planed











Wetted to show color











End grain close up, planed with a sharp No 4












Anyone ever seen/sawn/worked with this stuff?


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

I've worked with red elm before, and that stuff looks a lot like it. If it's similar, I'd expect it to be more prone to movement after being dimensioned. It's not a bad idea to let it acclimate well, plane it oversized, then let it acclimate another day or two before glue up. Red elm is also prone to leaving heavy fuzzing even with sharp cutters....that fuzz can be stiff enough to slice your fingers if you try to brush it off the board, so watch for that.

Awesome grain that's well worth the effort!


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

knotscott said:


> I've worked with red elm before, and that stuff looks a lot like it. If it's similar, I'd expect it to be more prone to movement after being dimensioned. It's not a bad idea to let it acclimate well, plane it oversized, then let it acclimate another day or two before glue up. Red elm is also prone to leaving heavy fuzzing even with sharp cutters....that fuzz can be stiff enough to slice your fingers if you try to brush it off the board, so watch for that.
> 
> Awesome grain that's well worth the effort!


It does look a lot like red Elm. And yes the grain is beautiful, but it is very difficult to work. I've done all the dimensioning with hand tools, and the flat flat sawn grain is very very difficult to plane. In areas where the grain is straight and vertical it is very easy to work. It reminds me very much of working with African mahogany with its interlocked grain. The grain in this stuff is difficult to read and seems to change direction for no reason.

Also, I looked at a few old emails between myself and the sawyer last night, and I realize that I have it backwards. He was selling the flitches as Russian elm and the only geographically similar species that I was able to find information on was Siberian elm, which this certainly is not. 

Edit: I now recall him saying that Russian elm is most commonly seen growing as a tall shrub, and is not usually found on the continent. He claimed that this particular tree must have been growing for at least a century, and that it was removed when the family sold off their farm to a developer. Anecdotally noted, he speculated that the farm was probably owned by immigrant farmers who brought the shrub with them along with other crops that they planted, as the area has a large population of people with Russian heritage. Not sure if this guy is blowing smoke, or if it really is something that's rather unique.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

There are 7 or 8 species of Elm (Ulmus sp/Ulmaceae) with almost indistinguishable wood anatomy details. Plus, there are some cultivated varieties. Buds, flowers and leaves are used in the specific determination. Looks just a little bit late for that!
The other possibility is that it's a closely related and very hardy species, _Zelcova serrata_ (Ulmaceae,) "Japanese Zelcova."


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

Just FYI

Russian elm = Ulmus laevis
Siberian elm = Ulmus pumila

but I have no idea how similar they are. Siberian elm is pretty common and has a a great pore structure (grain lines) for turning (see bowl pics on my site).


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Thanks guys


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