American Chestnut?

[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) 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) 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.