Exotic Wood chestnut

WOOD ID POSTER:
co-created by, and sponsored by, HobbitHouse

240 woods on a poster (24"x36")

www.woodposter.com

open main page here

CHESTNUT

Castanea spp. and Castanopsis spp.

my samples --- colors are accurate throughout except as noted on the sample plank of Chinese chestnut

both sides of a sample plank of American chestnut (C. dentata) --- the crappy quality of this wood sample was fairly common in samples I obtained from the IWCS.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

two planks and a closeup

the other sides of the two planks above, and a closeup

both sides of a small plank cut from one of the larger ones above

end grain and end grain closeup of the plank directly above

plank and closeup --- this was at a woodworking store and just labled chestnut, but I'm sure it is wormy American chestnut --- very large enlargements are present

plank and end grain

end grain closeup of the piece directly above

sample plank and end grain listed as Spanish chestnut / Castanea sativa

end grain closeup of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Chinese chestnut (C. mollissima) --- the color shown is too orange

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

wormy chestnut veneer --- this is a particularly fragile veneer. I don't know whether that's true in general or just of the lot I bought, but this a lot of this stuff just falls apart in your hands.

burl veneer

This chestnut burl veneer sheet was loaned to me by John Koehn whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

NOT a raw wood color
a flooring sample of "southern chestnut" that has been finished in a hard, shiny, finish that clearly has deepened and enriched the color. I consider the vendor unreliable and am not completely confident that this even IS chestnut.

the piece directly above, after I sanded off the finish --- now that the finish is off, I see that the grain is almost identical to that of the Southern chestnut directly below, although the color is clearly much lighter --- this was a thin plywood layer, so I could not get an end grain pic

flooring sample and end grain of "Southern" chestnut

end grain closeup of the flooring sample directly above --- note the very indistinct separation between early and late growth, which is completely unlike the other samples above --- SO ... I'm not convinced this IS chestnut, but can't say for sure one way or the other. The fact that the side grain is almost identical to the sample directly above argues in favor of it being chestnut, BUT ... both of these are from flooring dealers and flooring dealers are absolutely the LEAST reliable vendors in the world when it comes to proper identification of wood.

The Wood Book pics

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
chestnut (Castanea dentata) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are avaiable for all 3 views

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
California chinqepin (Castanea chrysophylla, also listed as evergreen chestnut) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are avaiable for all 3 views

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
chinkepin (Castanea pumila) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are avaiable for all 3 views

web pics

plank with wet and dry sections

slabs, all from the same vendor

wormy planks

clear planks

planks

plank and closeup

plank specifically listed as American chestnut

both sides and a closeup of two American chestnut planks --- interesting how all 3 pics have sigfificantly different colors

curly plank

chestnut listed as "chinkapin" --- both sides of a plank and a closeup

chestnut listed as "chinkapin" planks

"chinkapin" planks from the BogusColorVendor so I have no confidence in the color

listed as "golden" chinkapin

veneer

veneer sheets and closeup --- these are from a vendor whose pics make many woods look green regardless of the actual color of the wood, so the green color is highly unlikely

fiddleback veneer --- I've never encountered fiddleback chestnut myself and this is the only pic I've ever run across

wormy chestnut veneer

wormy European chestnut veneer, all from the same vendor

wormy chestnut veneer --- my wormy chestnut samples above are from the lot that these pictures were taken of and as you can see, the vendors pics shown here are WAY off in color (mine are corrected and accurate)

burl veneer

burl veneer from a vendors whose pics make many woods look green regardless of the true color --- the actual wood is certainly more tan than green, although it could well have a noticible green tinge

listed as "flamed" burl veneer

american chestnut

american chestnut reclaimed planks --- very old which probably accounts for the deep brown color

American wormy chestnut --- 3 views of the same board

more American wormy chestnut planks

flooring made from reclaimed chestnut planks

wormy chestnut pen blanks --- yellow/orange color is very unlikely

european chestnut planks

European chestnut veneer

European chestnut veneer, all from the same vendor

European chestnut veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement. These are all from the same vendor as the lot directly above

two views of a big block of spalted chestnut. The listing said "sweet" chestnut. Personally, I've never eaten any chestnut trees, so I couldn't tell you whether this is really sweet or not.

veneer listed as sweet chestnut

spalted

a batch of spalted chestnut turning sticks. The listing said "sweet" chestnut.

scales

pen blanks

wormy chestnut pen blanks

listed as Brazilian chestnut, but I'm wondering if this is to chestnut what Brazilian Cherry (Jatoba) is to cherry (it isn't). Correspondant Paul van Rijckevorsel tells me this is NOT chestnut and I believe him.

flooring

wormy barn wood

bowl