Wormy American Chestnut? (Pics)

[Homer Faucett]

I pulled some nice 2.5" x 8" x 12-14' joists (rough cut) out of a turn of the century barn here near Zionsville, Indiana. I finally got around to cutting down, jointing, and planing up a few to make some parts for the frame of my workbench base over the last few weeks. After some puzzling over what it is, I'm pretty sure what I have is wormy American Chestnut.

Does anyone have any pointers on identifying? It appears to have open cells on endgrain like red oak, but does not have an acrid smell when cutting, nor does it appear to be open grained like red oak. It machines pretty nicely, and is lighter in weight than white oak, and doesn't seem as hard as oak or hickory.

Here are some pics:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f10/hfaucett/Chestnut2.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f10/hfaucett/Chestnut3.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f10/hfaucett/Chestnut1.jpg

Milled up legs, 4" x 2.5" (some 3" thick) x 5' long. Jet jointer in the background for size comparison

[Randy Hock]

Homer,
I think that you probably hit it on the head. I wonder if one of the guys down at Northwest Lumber could confirm it for you.
I used to live in Zionsville and now am in Indy. I would love to pull some of that wood for a bench of my own. Is there any left?:)
Randy

[Homer Faucett]

I milled up two of the 12-14’ boards to make two heavy shaker style workbench frames, and have at least 8 boards left. I bought all the lumber that was in the barn, and someone had already put their bid in on salvaging the barn itself. The beams were hand-hewn, just like the barn next door to my house that is about to collapse. :(

[Jim Finn]

I have some wormy chestnut that is quite a lot darker in color than that. It is almost as dark as black walnut and has pin holes through some of it. It burns very easily on the table saw if the feed rate is not kept up. Same with the router. It has a close grain.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

I sent you an Email.

Bruce

[Randy Hock]

Homer,

Great meeting you and your crew. We enjoyed the visit. We made it home without a hitch.

I spent a few hours cleaning up the wood. Patty spent some time looking at old books and magazines trying to figure out the best use of the Chestnut.

Hope you have a great week.:)

Randy

[Homer Faucett]

I have some wormy chestnut that is quite a lot darker in color than that. It is almost as dark as black walnut and has pin holes through some of it. It burns very easily on the table saw if the feed rate is not kept up. Same with the router. It has a close grain.

Yes, the color in the pics isn't quite right, as the flash washed it out. It's darker than red oak, but not nearly as dark as the walnut we have around here--but wood color varies substantially according to the area in which it was grown . . . and from tree to tree. Chestnut as dark as walnut would be a sight to see, though. I would agree that it can burn easily on the saw, but cuts very easily and doesn't seem to chip out too readily.

It definitely feels "splintery" when you rub it against the grain. Where the grain turns dramatically, it seems to readily split. Otherwise, it's a very nice wood that has some great depth to to he grain. Some of this grain almost glows in the sunlight. It's sad to know we've lost this wood to a couple of generations at least.

[Homer Faucett]

It was fantastic meeting you and Patty. Thanks for putting up with my messy shop and grounds. It's past mowing time (which seems to be every 3 days this year), but we got started on it this evening and will finish up in the morning.

I'm sure you will find the perfect project for this wood. The board we planed down is going to be spectacular. I want to see pictures whenever it is done.

Homer


Homer,

Great meeting you and your crew. We enjoyed the visit. We made it home without a hitch.

I spent a few hours cleaning up the wood. Patty spent some time looking at old books and magazines trying to figure out the best use of the Chestnut.

Hope you have a great week.:)

Randy

[Matt Hutchinson]

Do chestnut and elm look similar? I ask this cuz it almost looks like elm, and elm is very sesceptible to "worm holes". My dad has a whole bunch of elm that looks just like the picture, except that the color is lighter.

Hutch

[Homer Faucett]

Maybe my pics aren't the best, as this does not look like any elm I have seen. Further, any elm I have cut (with a chainsaw) STUNK! This has a nice, sweet/smokey smell when cut.


Do chestnut and elm look similar? I ask this cuz it almost looks like elm, and elm is very sesceptible to "worm holes". My dad has a whole bunch of elm that looks just like the picture, except that the color is lighter.

Hutch

[Sean Troy]

Almost looks like Catalpa which is plentiful in the mid-west

[John Keeton]

The key here is that the beams were taken from a barn. That nearly excludes catalpa and elm. I vote chestnut.

[Homer Faucett]

Thanks, John. Our county extension confirmed chestnut, so you get the blue ribbon. I know it's not easy making an ID by visual alone, but I also tried to include some other indicators, with smell being a pretty good indicator for ruling out either elm or catalpa. Plus, anyone who has seen catalpa worms knows they leave much larger holes.

If you've cut catalpa or elm with a chainsaw, you aren't going to forget how much they stink. While I'm not a sawyer, I grew up with a wood stove in the house and stacked a lot of fire wood and was around a lot of chain sawing, and some woods are very distinctive in the aroma they give off. If you've spent much time around elm or catalpa, you will remember what they smell like.

Plus, as John pointed out, neither of those would make good joists for a hayloft. Around here, Chestnut and white oak would be the preferred if available, although I have some beams from the barn next door that are hard maple. Since this barn had hand hewn beams, that definitely put it in the timeframe where chestnut was available--and was the preferred wood for this application. Elm and catalpa are extremely wet trees that tends to warp badly and do not have the structural strength to act as joists for a hayloft where the practice was to fill the barn to the rafters.