Though much of the furniture from the arts & crafts era in the early-1900’s was made from oak, I’ve seen some references to chestnut as a primary construction material. I recall reading that it possessed a similar ray-flake pattern like quartered oak, and accepted a fumed finish because of its tannic content. Then I ran across an L&JG footstool in chestnut on eBay and that motivated me to Google a bit and visit the library and bookstore for more information on chestnut.
I know the species was virtually wiped out from the blight of the same era, and much of the available lumber is “wormy” from an insect infestation related to the blight. Also, much of the available lumber today is salvage/reclaimed material typically from old barns.
Once the old growth, pre-blight material had been felled and milled, was it still subject to the blight and insect damage?
Is it at all possible to find chestnut absent the “wormy” character? I haven’t found anyone on-line that offers anything but “wormy” chestnut. I e-mailed a couple of eBay sellers that had chestnut lumber and all noted some worm holes in every piece.
tony b.
…in Suburban Chicago, land of the Oak, the Elm, the sculptured Evergreen…and our unwelcome guest, the Asian Longhorned Beetle.
Replies
there is a chinese version of the chestnut that has been hybredized.
I haven't seen the resulting wood but my sources tell me that it is significantly differant then the original. There are a few scattered trees thathave survived however It's rather doubtfull that someone will let you saw down the last remaining chestnut tree in the area. I'm afraid your best chance of finding some is the old barn search.. In the sheds and barns of the backwoods there is probably stored some.. Forgotten by the orignal owner and the inheritor doesn't know what it is except some old boards (he might think they were oak)..
There really isn't a market for such wood and it's only worth what someone is willing to pay..
Just for an example, my sawmill had a chance to buy several acres of red cedar nice mature trees that usually command a premium.
the problem is there was no market.. countless phone calls failed to turn up a ready buyer..
Oh there was an interest in a few boards here and there but no one was willing to buy as much as 11,000 board feet at one shot.. once wood is sawn it has a relatively short shelf life before it degrades severly..
Tony, You've got some of your facts garbled here. It's true that chestnut was used as a common secondary wood until the blight wiped it out...and it was even used as a primary species in some light-duty applications, such as clock cases, spice chests, sewing boxes, etc...but it's a rather soft wood for making major furniture pieces and wasn't often used in that way.
Chestnut has a figure similar to that of oak (they belong to the same family; Fagaceae)...and chestnut also has high tannin content, so it can be fumed in the same way as oak...but it does not have large conspiquous rays as do the oaks.
Virtually all chestnut available these days is salvaged from old barn beams and the vast majority of this material is wormy. However, it is possible to get lucky. For example, I bought a couple of hundred board feet of old chestnut beams about 10 years ago and was able to resaw it and salvage a few 1X6 boards that were totally without worm holes.
Also, the European species of chestnut produces wood that is virtually identical to that of American chestnut and the blight didn't totally devastate chestnut in Europe. It isn't readily available on the export market, but European cabinetmakers still work with it...So, you might be able to souce a few pieces, if you have any contacts over there.
The Chinese species (Castanea molissima) is now grown here, but its wood is a little denser and less attractively figured as is/was our native species. Also, the tree doesn't get as large, so it's not an important lumber source.
If you're willing to try a substitute, sassafras is probably the best counterfeit for chestnut and it's also a very enjoyable wood to work with...black ash is also similar in appearance to chestnut, but sassafras is the better match.
Yeah, chestnut is readily available with no problem here. We still have tons of chestnut trees. It is not very much sought after though because it just isn't a great wood. It is mythically renouned as being weather resistant as an exterior wood but I have never tried it for that. Here it is also relatively cheap.
Philip
Hey Jon -
Up until about 15 years ago I had a living Chestnut tree on my place up in Eastern OK (Ozark foothills). Unfortunately it was on a creek bank and finally got washed away by a flood. But I had confirmed that it was Chestnut by leaf and nut comparisons. Dale Lenz said that they can still be found occasionally in remote places. So remote from other trees that they survived the blight. This tree was about 2' diameter at the base and very tall and straight.
But, it did have nuts?? Is that feasible without other trees around??
The 60 acres I have up there does have a pretty wide variety of timber species.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
Isolated specimens (even fairly extensive groves) of chestnut aren't uncommon...especially in the west, beyond chestnut's original range. Chestnuts were much appreciated by the pioneers, both for human consumption and as pig fodder...so the settlers took chestnuts with them in the 19th century and planted them on their homesteads. They were already established as far west as the Pacific coast by the time the blight was introduced in New York around the turn of the century. The blight moved quite fast and pretty much wiped them out throughout their native range as far west as Missouri in the span of only 50 years...but thanks to the pioneers, they survive further west. For example, there is a small grove of them in Western Wisconsin that I'm aware of.
Also, the blight hasn't totally destroyed chestnut within its native range. A few apparently immune trees survive and even the old rootstock of trees that were toppled by the blight send up shoots that sometimes attain adequate age to produce nuts...So it continues to propagate...but, from a practical perspective, the status of the species has been reduced from one of America's most important timber species to a mere shrub.
Personally, I think there is a good chance that as resistant surviving trees continue to produce resistant offspring, chestnut has the potential to re-establish itself and will eventually return as an important species throughout much of its former range. Researchers are doing their best to give it a boost and speed up the process...but I think, even on its own, it is destined to return...across the span of centuries.
About 15 years ago I found a GREAT deal in FWW classifieds..400 bft of NOT wormy chestnut..first it was a lot more than 400 bft, and also contained about 200 bft of cypress..all in panels glued up before the turn of the century (the one before this one) that measured 30" wide by 84" long..T&G with hide glue. Where did this come from? A funeral parlor in Phila. Pa. Try to locate a casket manufacturer or old parlor, this was just sitting in a basement for a hundred years! Good luck! Duane
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