I was working on a Kephart knife today and was pondering what to use for the scales. I've been using alot of beech lately and fancied a change. I was looking over my wood pile searching for inspiration when I spotted an "oak" board. It was an off-cut that my old boss gave me when he made a counter for the bar at the hotel I used to chef at. He'd got the board from a customer whose grandad had been a coffin maker. The board came out of his shed and must have been cut 70 years ago. The fellow said it was oak and I took the grey and dusty off-cut home and forgot about it. Well, I pulled it out, 1' by 1 1/2' and 1/2" thick and brushed it off. It didn't really look like oak, and when it went through the bandsaw it didn't smell like oak. I rasped and sanded a section to get a good look and guess what, it's elm! And enough for 5 or 6 knives at least .