Is this Butternut?

[Robert Engel]

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[Kevin Lauck]

Not sure. All the butternut I have is darker and I think more grey.

[Darcy Warner]

Looks like some form of plantation pine.

[Jerry Wright]

It is possible. Note that butternut is known as "poor an's walnut". When stained it has much the same look when stained dark. When planed or routed it can develop a fuzzy surface which can be a pain. Once made about 50 frames from it. Pretty wood, though.

[Brian W Evans]

Not sure. All the butternut I have is darker and I think more grey.

Same here.

[Edward Weingarden]

I haven't used Butternut in a number of years but the grain pattern on the end cut (photo 2) does not appear to be what I recall it looking like.

[Lee Schierer]

Looks like pine to me.

[Robert Engel]

I thought it was pine, too, due to the slight resin smell.

But the color made me think of butternut, so I looked at some carving stock I know for sure is butternut and it looks awful similar.

[Ben Zara]

Has the surface been planned a bit recently? Freshly planed pine does not have that color.

[Jared Sankovich]

Radiata pine

[Barry Richardson]

Sugar pine would be my guess

[Andrew Seemann]

Butternut can have a slight "nutty" smell when worked like walnut, and definitely not like the resin smell of pine. It has similar texture and grain as walnut, but lighter in color and weight, giving the alternate name "white walnut" It is softer than walnut, closer to poplar or the harder softwoods (but without the hard growth rings that some softwoods can have). Color can vary from whitish grey to golden brown.

It is one of my favorite woods, but it can be hard to find and is sometimes expensive. It is threatened by the butternut canker unfortunately and many trees have already been lost.

The wood in the picture looks more like one of the softer pines, sugar pine would be my guess based on the face and end grain pattern and the resin smell you describe.

Side note, I once happened upon a bunch of sugar pine 1x12s at HD being sold as regular #2 common lumber. I went back with my trailer the next day and bought every one they had. It made a couple bookshelves and some cabinets and many pinewood derby cars. Beautiful stuff, but we almost never see it in MN.

[Prashun Patel]

Doesn’t look like any butternut I have used. Looks like a lot of the pine I have used.

[Lee Schierer]

I thought it was pine, too, due to the slight resin smell.

But the color made me think of butternut, so I looked at some carving stock I know for sure is butternut and it looks awful similar.

Here is a link to the appearance of butternut