Buckeye?

tyb525 · May 30, 2008, 10:26:02 AM

Does anyone use buckeye for lumber? Is it worth anything? During recent walk through a part of my woods I haven't been in in awhile, I noticed that there were tons of buckeyes growing everywhere (small to medium size).

I don't know whether to try to thin them out to let better trees grow or something else.
What do you guys think?

Dodgy Loner · May 30, 2008, 10:35:41 AM

The lumber is soft and light-colored. There's not much grain to it. The trees are a lot prettier than the wood.

Timburr · May 30, 2008, 03:22:03 PM

Buckeye is a closely related specie to our horse chestnut, which is considered a non-commercial wood here in the UK. About the only use I'm aware of, is the making of wooden toys. If your desperate for lumber, a board is a board, but as Dodgy says, the wood is soft and bland. I'd "let better trees grow or something else"!

tyb525 · May 30, 2008, 04:16:58 PM

Thanks, that's what I suspected.

Justin L · May 31, 2008, 10:25:37 PM

I was curious too, so...I cut & dried a Buckeye tree. I sold most of it to a carver, and gave a sample to another carver. I'll try to find out if they liked it or not. They aren't standing in line when I open the shop in the mornings to buy more(yet)!

It has lots of small knots everywhere, but they are white too. The grain change may be bad for the carving. It needs to be felled, sawn and stickered ASAP- mine sat for a week or two before sawing and it was stained already.

I might leave some bigger ones in my woods, but I've cut many small ones to let the more desirable tress grow. They grow pretty thick so they can block out a lot of light.

tyb525 · July 23, 2008, 10:14:23 PM

This topic was from awhile ago, but I just realized that I've bought lumber from you! I was the kid, Ty, that came with his mom and little brother earlier in the year , and bought a few shorts.

Justin L · July 27, 2008, 09:08:23 PM

Thats pretty funny! Were you guys in the area for a ballgame, and did I give your little brother a chunk of Basswood to practice carving? Just trying to picture your faces...

Been working on any projects lately?

tyb525 · July 27, 2008, 09:34:03 PM

Yep thats it! Well since then I've bought a full-length lathe and drill press. I have pretty much all the basic tools (miter saw, table saw, band saw, router, portable power tools) now. I've turned a few bowls, a foot stool, a clock (with butternut I bought from you), shop furnishings, and other misc. things. My biggest project right now is building an oak bookcase for a lady. I want to get a planer sometime. (A future buy, when I have a steadier income

)

Anyways, small world, huh? How's your business coming?

Justin L · August 07, 2008, 09:57:45 PM

I've been building custom cabinets for the most part. Some lumber sales & custom mldgs/flooring, but mostly cabinets. It's good to have a variety of products to make so when one slows down the others pick up some.

I received some feedback from a guy who carved a chain with some of the Buckeye. he was able to carve it, but it wouldn't carve as smooth as Basswood. It looked just like Basswood, but harder to carve. I think cutting them down to let the nicer trees grow is the thing to do. Leave some for the novelty and for squirrel food though!

One last thought- if you stay in woodworking as a profession, you may NEVER have a steadier income!