Chinese elm?

[paulc]

My wife and I just bought a house and a neighbor ID’d the tree in our front yard as lacy elm...which I believe is also Chinese elm. Anyone know anything about them in terms of bow making?

Thanks, Paul

[bjrogg]

Some people around here call box elder Chinese Elm. I'm thinking it's a poor bow wood. I don't know if that's the wood you have though
Bjrogg

[bushboy]

Yip,im with BJ.

[Badger]

 All the street trees on my street are Chinese elm. Tiny leaf about 1/2" long. Excellent bow wood, almost impossible to break even with severe violations. Dense and heavy.

[paulc]

I guess pics will be needed. Tomorrow, thanks

[bjrogg]

All the street trees on my street are Chinese elm. Tiny leaf about 1/2" long. Excellent bow wood, almost impossible to break even with severe violations. Dense and heavy.

Hey Steve is that something different than Box Elder? I really don't know what Chinese Elm is. I just know that some people around here call Box Elder by that name.
Bjrogg

[PatM]

Chinese Elm is an actual Elm species from China.   It's quite resistant to Elm blight which is why it is still planted as a street tree around the World.

  Box Elder is Manitoba Maple. Can't imagine anyone deliberately planting that nor why they would call it Elm for any reason.

[Pat B]

Does the "lacy elm" have corky wings along the smaller branches? If so it could be winged elm.
Like Pat said there is a big difference between elm and maple leaves. No comparison.

[bjrogg]

Chinese Elm is an actual Elm species from China.   It's quite resistant to Elm blight which is why it is still planted as a street tree around the World.

  Box Elder is Manitoba Maple. Can't imagine anyone deliberately planting that nor why they would call it Elm for any reason.

Thanks Pat. I can't imagine either. It grows like a weed here. It doesn't even make decent firewood. I have know idea why some call it Chinese Elm. Some people call it piss elm to. If you burn it you'll figure out why they call it that. It smells like it. It doesn't resemble Elm in any way to me.
Bjrogg

At any rate it sounds like you might have a winner there Paulc

[PatM]

  That honestly sounds a lot more like Siberian Elm than Box Elder.

[loefflerchuck]

If your in the western US then 99% chance it’s a Siberian elm and not Chinese. People call it Chinese but it’s not. Easy to tell the difference. Siberian elm when it is full grown has fissured bark of brown to dark grey. Chinese elm has pale smooth bark that looks like sycamore. Siberian elm is a great bow wood. As fast a bow as any top wood. I only use young trees using the natural rounded back. That is the best design for this wood and a flat belly. It is much stronger in tension so the natural crowned back works that tension wood. It was also used as a core wood in Mongolian composite bows at least 800 years ago

[IrishJay]

Not to thread-jack, but is Siberian elm sap wood yellow?

[loefflerchuck]

It could be considered a pale yellow. The heartwood is a dark brown and it smells wonderful working with it. The bark of Siberian looks a lot like box elder and black willow and in the wintertime the way to tell them apart is willow and box elder bark is easy to break off the tree but elm bark is tuff.

[jeffp51]

I have made one really good bow from siberian elm and had a few failures--but I think I had rot/fungus in that log.  If it is good wood, you can make a really good, really beautiful bow from it.  I have to say, though, mine was the worst smelling wood I have worked with.  Not sure if you were being honest or ironic, Chuck.

[loefflerchuck]

Jeff, interesting yours smelled bad. Maybe it was a fungus.  It has a wonderful smell similar to hhb. I’d like to hear from people who have made bows from full size trunks.