# Is it Chestnut



## rwl (Nov 29, 2010)

I have started taking down and old barn and using the wood to make different kinds of furniture. Very hard to wood with, depending on where in the barn you get the wood. Just took down the first few pieces of the siding and had someone tell me they thought it was chestnut. Never seen any so I cannot say. Compared some with pictures I could get on internet and it is a maybe, but would like your thoughts. [/ATTACH][/ATTACH]


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## qbilder (Dec 19, 2010)

My experience has been that chestnut looks a lot like white oak but is lighter weight & doesn't have the strong ray pattern on the quarter face like oak does.


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## jjboozel (Mar 11, 2013)

Here is a picture of a peice of my chestnut. Looks pretty similar. However yours does not have any wormholes.... Here is some more pictures of chestnut. Almost all of chestnut is called "wormy chestnut" because it has worm holes. This stuff came out of an old house my shop teacher bought it all for $50 I know him an I spent a long time separating chestnut from poplar. After all that time it looks almost identical. There is a chance yours could be chestnut also a chance it could be poplar. Ill sit back and see what others say.


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## keith long (Jan 25, 2013)

Looks like chestnut to me, I was gifted some to make troop pens out of and it looks like that wood, mine has no worm holes in it.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

Looks to me like it could be hickory or chestnut, but hard to tell from those pics.


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## rwl (Nov 29, 2010)

*Thanks*

Here are some more pictures.[/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

That's just more of the exact same kind of pic. What's needed is a closer view and even more important some end grain shots.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

The Chestnut I had was very light in weight and easy to machine, kinda looked like a cross between ash and oak.


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## Logger (Nov 26, 2009)

Its got the look of some bur oak ive milled.


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

It looks like chestnut to me too, but since we see so little of these days, it's hard to know for sure.


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## rwl (Nov 29, 2010)

*Pictures close up and End*

[/ATTACH]

Do these help make a decision of more certainty. Hate to tell someone it is chestnut but be told I am wrong.


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## Old Air Force (Jan 14, 2013)

The "worm holes" could be a result of the chestnut blight that pretty much wiped out the chestnut trees. That is also why you don't see much chestnut wood these days. I have heard that they have come up with a disease resistant chestnut tree and chestnuts are starting to make a comeback. That makes me happy, because I love eating roasted chestnuts in the winter.


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## rwl (Nov 29, 2010)

Looked at Phinds website, which is awesome, and the pictures of chestnut. I think it can be found to match many of them and with the input from many senior members who say yes, unless someone says absolutely no, I believe I will call it "chestnut." Thanks for everyones help.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

That end grain shot isn't quite clear but It appears to have strong rays running through it. If so, it's oak, not chestnut or hickory. The face grain appears to show the rays as well.


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## larrynj (Jan 27, 2012)

the color doesn't look right for chestnit. should be more brown ot tan than white. how's the weight? as mentioned, chestnut's very light , also very easy to work on the saw.


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## rwl (Nov 29, 2010)

*The Wood is Light*

It is light and it saws easy, but I think it has rays. The grain is very straight and regular. I thought that kinda ruled out Oak, but you guys know more than I do.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

rlowhorn said:


> It is light and it saws easy, but I think it has rays. The grain is very straight and regular. I thought that kinda ruled out Oak, but you guys know more than I do.


Get a cleaner, better focused end grain shot.


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## Logger (Nov 26, 2009)

Looks like bur oak.


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## punkin611 (Sep 17, 2013)

rlowhorn said:


> View attachment 75671
> I have started taking down and old barn and using the wood to make different kinds of furniture. Very hard to wood with, depending on where in the barn you get the wood. Just took down the first few pieces of the siding and had someone tell me they thought it was chestnut. Never seen any so I cannot say. Compared some with pictures I could get on internet and it is a maybe, but would like your thoughts. [/ATTACH][/ATTACH]


It looks like hickory to me. To me old chestnut is a little darker than the pics. in your post. Plus, chestnut IMO is like fir in that it feels a little fuzzy and rough even after it's sanded. That just might be my perception.:blink:


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## Dandan111 (Oct 29, 2013)

Oak? Not any oak I have been around. Grandpa always just said. "Native wood",whatever that means.


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