American Chestnut?

[Aiden Pettengill]

Has anyone worked with American chestnut? I cut one down (it had died) and am having it milled. Whats its workability? I would have saved the wood anyway because while you can still find pockets of them up here, there is nowhere else you can get virgin lumber.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Somebody brought me some reclaimed chestnut years ago to make a fiddle out of for them, and it was OK, but very soft and brittle compared to most hardwoods. Whether that was because it had been used as wall paneling for decades I don't know, or maybe that's just how it is. It's nothing special to look at either in my opinion, but it does smell fairly nice while being worked.

[Tom Bain]

Aiden -- If it is truly American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) it is quite valuable and exceedingly rare. Most chestnut has succumbed to chestnut blight so available lumber is mostly reclaimed from old barns, and will easily run you $15 - $20 per board foot. It is easy to work with with, although relatively soft as hardwoods go (similar to poplar). You have a real treasure there.

[Lee Schierer]

If you have live chestnut trees growing wild in your area you should contact the American Chestnut Foundation (https://acf.org/). They continue to do research to develop trees that are immune to the disease that has killed most of the trees.

As far as the wood goes it is a beautiful wood prized for table making. As I understand it, the wood works like oak, but the grain is more pronounced and generally more pleasing to the eye. Chestnut is easy to work and glues and nails well. Naturally rot-resistant, straight-grained, and formerly plentiful.

[Erik Loza]

Maybe not an answer to the OP's question but at the architectural millwork firm I did a stint with, we had a line of engineered flooring out of Spain that was French Chestnut. I think they even sent us some slabs at one point. My impression was that it was somewhere between beech and white oak in character and performance. Chestnut still seems to be readily available over there.

Erik

[Aiden Pettengill]

It is American chestnut and I have been in contact with ACF. The big tree in the pictures is still there and healthy but because there is no longer a pollinator the nuts arn't viable. There are however, couple hundred small trees in the surrounding land. The dead tree re-sprouted from the roots and grew wildly. They are beautiful trees and I enjoy them immensely! (Boot is size 9 US)
44915844915944916044916144916244916344916444916544 9166

[Aiden Pettengill]

Maybe not an answer to the OP's question but at the architectural millwork firm I did a stint with, we had a line of engineered flooring out of Spain that was French Chestnut. I think they even sent us some slabs at one point. My impression was that it was somewhere between beech and white oak in character and performance. Chestnut still seems to be readily available over there.

Erik
It is. European chestnut and Chinese Chestnut are blight resistant so haven't been hit like American Chestnut has been.

[Bradley Gray]

American Chestnuts still grow here in So. Ohio, but all the ones I know of died before they reached the flowering stage. While it would make a beautiful table top, the wood is very soft. I repaired some chestnut furniture some years ago and used sassafras for the repairs. The original was stained and the sassafras matched very well when stained.

Prior to the blight c. 1940 chestnut made up 1/3 of the trees here. When we moved to Adams County in 1977 the guard rail posts along our road were round chestnut that had been cut and buried green in the thirties.

[Jim Becker]

Some universities study viable American Chestnut trees in an effort to find a way to bring them back. Penn State is one of them. In addition to enjoying the lumber from your tree that had to come doesn, you may want to contact PSU or other entities with interest in this species as they may want to do some genetic studies, especially if you have new growth there.

I recently worked with some reclaimed chestnut I got from Brian Holcomb. It's nice stuff, although the specific material I was working with had a very broad and deep grain and pore pattern.

[Mark Hill]

I use reclaimed American Chestnut all the time for rustic serving trays and similar items. IMO, it's a good looking wood with a great history. It's easy to work, planes very nicely, sands easily and finishes well with just polyurethane. I don't ever stain it, so I'm not sure about that. Be careful with potential for tear out.

[Aiden Pettengill]

Some universities study viable American Chestnut trees in an effort to find a way to bring them back. Penn State is one of them. In addition to enjoying the lumber from your tree that had to come doesn, you may want to contact PSU or other entities with interest in this species as they may want to do some genetic studies, especially if you have new growth there.

I recently worked with some reclaimed chestnut I got from Brian Holcomb. It's nice stuff, although the specific material I was working with had a very broad and deep grain and pore pattern.
I've been in contact with a Professor at University of New England for their School of Marine and Environmental Programs and gene conservation chair and the Vice Pres. of the Maine Chapter. There are three colleges involved in Maine. University of New England, University of Maine, and Unity College. The large three trunked tree is actually the result of having been cut down fifty years ago and sprouts growing from the base. Next to the tree is also a sugar maple tree with a 2 1/2' to 3' burl on it too!

[William Hodge]

I have used salvaged chestnut for architectural millwork. The new growth stuff is a different animal, because growing conditions are different. The blight damages the trees as they grow. I have used the new growth Chestnut (that has died) for cat climbing structures in the cat yard. The sap wood weathers quickly, and the cats can really grip it. The grain is too wild to be of much use to me. There is a lot of it growing in the woods around me.

There is also old Chestnut left over from the trees that were standing when the blight hit. If the tree leaned over on to a Hemlock tree, it would last for many decades. The bottom would rot, and the chestnut would slowly slide down the Hemlock truck. I think Hemlocks are about the only trees that preserve Chestnut, because the branch pattern shelters and cradles the fallen tree. The last pre-blight Chestnut tree I remember standing on its own fell over in 1976. The branches and trunk are now just a mound, covered with pine needles. You can spot old Chestnut in the woods, because it will be deeply weathered heart wood, leaning at an angle on a Hemlock tree. The branch angles and pattern differentiate it from Red Oak, which looks similar.

The good Chestnut that was used in houses for doors and trim is unlike any of the salvage stuff. I worked on a house a few years ago that had unpainted quarter sawn chestnut door casing. It was just a 19th century farm house, and the wood was probably local.

[Jim Becker]

I'm sure those research folks at the schools appreciate that you contacted them! I do, too. It's a wonderful species and any progress toward a blight-resistant genome will help bring it back at least a little.

[Charlie Jones]

I have worked with the reclaimed American Chestnut quit a bit over the years. It is fairly soft but harder than pine. The grain is similar to Oak. The wood can be prone to splintering. The reclaimed stuff is more valuable if it has worm holes. I have made my own with a hot wire when needed. Here is a nightstand with Pine body, Butternut top and Chestnut legs.

[Aiden Pettengill]

I'm sure those research folks at the schools appreciate that you contacted them! I do, too. It's a wonderful species and any progress toward a blight-resistant genome will help bring it back at least a little.
Still working on the paperwork. Have to wait until they leaf out to send samples for genetic verification. Some may ask if there was an old settlement that it could have been from and or been genetically contaminated with but the answer is no. Given where they are located though (in the middle of 2,000 acres of woods with no other kinds of chestnuts even remotely near), I can say with 99.999% certainty that they are 100% pure. The area was first logged about 200 years ago and most recently 50 years ago and there are no settlements that were in those 2,000 acres. The land was known to have chestnuts as confirmed by one of the older locals that have lived in the town almost their whole life. The trunk was very straight with almost no branching until about 20' off of the ground so the wood should be decent I hope! How soft is it? Like butternut soft?

[Aiden Pettengill]

Somebody brought me some reclaimed chestnut years ago to make a fiddle out of for them, and it was OK, but very soft and brittle compared to most hardwoods. Whether that was because it had been used as wall paneling for decades I don't know, or maybe that's just how it is. It's nothing special to look at either in my opinion, but it does smell fairly nice while being worked.
When I cut it down (with a bow saw because I had no interest in lugging a chainsaw up a hill with a 30 degree incline: turns out lugging the chainsaw would have been 1/16 of the effort then using the bow saw:D) I thought it smelled like weird ketchup. Maybe because it was still a little wet?

[Bradley Gray]

Soft like basswood.

Easy to make a mark with a thumbnail

[Lee Schierer]

Some universities study viable American Chestnut trees in an effort to find a way to bring them back. Penn State is one of them. In addition to enjoying the lumber from your tree that had to come doesn, you may want to contact PSU or other entities with interest in this species as they may want to do some genetic studies, especially if you have new growth there.

Near where I live there is a grove of blight resistant American Chestnut trees. The trees are about 3-4" in diameter and about 15-20 feet tall.

[Charlie Jones]

I have worked with some reclaimed Chestnut over the years. People like the worm holes. When I am building something from it and get a board without the worm holes. I use a hot wire to make some. It is easy working but can splinter. Here is one of the nightstands I built using Chestnut for the legs. The case is Pine and the top Butternut. Sorry but the picture is a little dark and I didn’t know how to turn it around.

[Aiden Pettengill]

Thanks Charlie, good to know. Thats a nice build! Have you had any issues with the butternut being easily dented? I have some but am scared to use it because of how soft it seems.

[Jim Becker]

Near where I live there is a grove of blight resistant American Chestnut trees. The trees are about 3-4" in diameter and about 15-20 feet tall.

If I'm not mistaken, Grumbine has one across the street along the road, but it's been quite a while since I've been up there.

[Charlie Jones]

Thanks Charlie, good to know. Thats a nice build! Have you had any issues with the butternut being easily dented? I have some but am scared to use it because of how soft it seems.

I am used to working with White Pine so the Butternut is not bad if your careful. I love the way it looks finished.

[Andy D Jones]

I remember as a child (I'm 58 now), my dad and granddad showed me the remains of a cluster of American Chestnut trees while we were walking in the woods (NW Arkansas, Ozark Mts.) The outer trees were all ~4" caliper, and it looked like the rotted trunk of a much older, larger one in the middle. All were dead then. Granddad said there were lots of them alive on the property when they bought the place in 1948, and these had been the last live ones. Kinda sad... That was probably late 60s or early 70's.

-- Andy - Arlington TX

[Zachary Hoyt]

When I cut it down (with a bow saw because I had no interest in lugging a chainsaw up a hill with a 30 degree incline: turns out lugging the chainsaw would have been 1/16 of the effort then using the bow saw:D) I thought it smelled like weird ketchup. Maybe because it was still a little wet?
Sometimes a tree that is dead or dying will be bacterially infected, and then it can smell bad. Or maybe I just like the smell of weird ketchup and don't know it, I haven't tried smelling any since I don't even eat normal ketchup.

[Curt Harms]

Near where I live there is a grove of blight resistant American Chestnut trees. The trees are about 3-4" in diameter and about 15-20 feet tall.

Do you know if they're hybrids? One effort to breed a blight resistant Chestnut involved creating a variety that was 1/16th Chinese Chestnut. They looked and worked like American Chestnut but were blight resistant.