Another "What wood is this?" Thread

[Earl McLain]

Picked up a pretty healthy load of old walnut tongue & groove paneling over the weekend. Finish planes nicely at 11/16", almost 100% clear and will finish at 3" to 7" widths. Got the equivalent of about 150 bf for $250--and it won't take much more work than buying 4/4 stock. Checked each piece, found 5 or 6 nail remnants stuck, so i had to cut a few inches off a few ends. Mini-gloat over.

The guy said he has a similar amount of other wood that looked identical that had been in their hallway. But--as soon as he started removing that he noticed it was much less dense (heavy) than the walnut. He got a sample piece--and the finished side looked identical to the amber-shellaced walnut. Unfinished side was much lighter in color, with a yellow-ish tone. Said a co-worker thinks it's heart pine (house was built in about 1965, northern IN, and the walnut came from a lumber wholesaler in the Chicago area--Graser or Graber in Franklin Park, IL). Comparable sized piece is not much more than half the weight of the walnut, not as heavy as red oak--maybe the density of sassafras. The end grain cut was too ragged i think, and i've asked him to make a clean cut and send me a close-up. He's about an hour away and i'm traveling 3 or 4 days each of the next several weeks--and he's in no hurry to get rid of it ("it's not in my way, no big deal"). Any thoughts looking at these pics?

Earl

[Allan Speers]

Need better pics!


If it's really light, it could be Chestnut. Is it ring or diffuse-porous?

[John C Bush]

butternut??

[Andrew Hughes]

My brain is saying Butternut too.

[Bob Vaughan]

butternut??

That would be my guess also. The ragged end grain cut is typical of butternut cut with a semi-dull blade.

[Art Mann]

Could be slightly spalted walnut. I will guarantee that the wood is not heart pine. I work with that fairly often and it looks nothing like the picture.

[Allan Speers]

Yeah, given the circumstances, Butternut (Or English Walnut) makes more sense than Chestnut.

[Morey St. Denis]

Is it all as heavily figured as the sample pictured? American timber Chestnut were massive trees with large, straight, mostly clear boles, but were largely all dead well before 1965. Time was, prior to the industrial revolution and before the first decade of the 20th century, over 30% of Northeast hardwoods were timber Chestnut. It's said an ambitious squirrel could travel the treetops all the way from Georgia to Maine without ever touching anything other than Chestnut trees, if he a mind to... That initial sample looks too highly figured for typical Chestnut and it's most certainly not Southern Yellow, "Long-Needle" or "Heart Pine"; the old growth "Long-Leaf" Pine was more dense than Walnut! Pending further details or more pictures, I'm also presently in the camp of Butternut.

[Allan Speers]

.. That sample looks too highly figured for typical Chestnut and it's most certainly not Southern Yellow Pine or "Heart Pine"; ....

Say what? I have a bunch of reclamed Chestnut that looks almost identical to the OP's pic.

You can also see tons of figure here:

chestnut lumber

[Earl McLain]

I've not seen a lot of butternut, but that was about the first thing i said when he handed me the sample. May have a few additional pictures soon--but i'm leaving Thursday morning so it may be Sunday before i can post.
earl

[Frank Drew]

Earl,

The wider piece looks like somewhat pale walnut so if it's lightweight (compared to normal walnut) then I agree that it's most likely butternut. And Art and Morey are absolutely right -- the one thing it's not is Old Pine.

[Earl McLain]

Got a few additional pics from the owner today--fresh cross cut on his miter saw, but i'm not sure it's a clean enough cut to help. The face cuts sure are pretty enough that i'm interested in what he's got, it will just be several weeks before i'll have time to get it. Thanks for all your help!!
earl