I have spoken with a few sawyers on and off this board and wanted to get some more opinions. This is some lumber from some old barn logs that were brought to my mill to be sawed into lumber. The customer (whom I am not doubting) thinks they are old chestnut logs from the barn he took down. He said all the siding was chestnut. The barn was taken down in east TN. He build custom furniture out of chestnut and is usually spot on. The end grain does not show any medullary rays either. He said this is pre blight chestnut logs. The logs are all around 8 to 11in in diam. Very small trees when they were harvested. The light color has me being skeptical. What you your thoughts? Thanks for any comments in advance.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/25380/Chest_2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1484506029)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/25380/Chest_1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1484506015)
Looks like pine to me. The odor of freshly sawn old pine should be telltale.
Your friend may well be right. I've seen chestnut that looked like that.
If that is Chestnut, I have a lot of Pine that looks just like it.
But thinking of you I hope it is Chestnut. :)
Looks kinda like hemlock. Been many years since I've milled any so my memory is probably lacking... Does hemlock even grow in TN?
my thoughts are hemlock as well.whats the weight usually hemlock would seem light in old stock as compared to chestnut.
I've not come across chestnut that I have id'd. I've been told it looks like white oak but if you look at the end grain you will not see the rays radiating our from the center like you do in white oak.
I resaw a lot of wood from old barns in that area. Looks like the pine I get to me.
I have very little experience with some of the yellow pines so can't really speak to that, but it looks like it could be ash. The very little chestnut I've handled was darker, and much less dense than ash.
I think it is most likely chestnut. I always think it looks like a combination of ash and butternut. The chestnut timber harvested after the blight I think is often darkened from standing dead and bug infestation. I don't have any experience resawing chestnut - wish I did.
Might I suggest moving this to the section of the forum that helps people with tree ID? WDH is a moderator there that seems to be top notch.
That said, just slice a bit of end grain off. Pine and other conifers will have resin tubes, can't miss them. Chestnut will have a very distinctive end grain appearance and you can google it to veryify. Truly tree end grains are very very telling in most cases and you can almost always get the right family if nothing else.
I am sure it is not pine, I finished up the timber today and I think it is pre blight chestnut. Smells a lot like oak. I have attached a pic of the end grain also.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/25380/end.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1484704522)
At the end grain Look at the holes/ veins if it's tear drop shape it's Chestnut. Round is something else.
Looks like chestnut to me.
My vote is chestnut. Lots of chestnut structures in that area and the wood in your pics looks exactly like chestnut. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck.......
I think that you need a new sawblade. :D
Those tyloses can be rough on a blade.
QuoteTyloses
a blister-like protrusion of xylem parenchymal cells that obstruct the vessels or, less commonly, the tracheids. Tyloses form when the closing membrane of a pit grows into the lumen of a vessel. The cytoplasm and, sometimes, the nucleus of the cell move into the protrusion, which is not separated by a septum from the mother cell. Tyloses may be filled with starch, calcium salts, resin, or gum. Although they are most characteristic of woody plants, they also occur in herbaceous plants, such as pumpkin, purslane, and dock. Tyloses lower the water-retaining capacity of the heartwood and increase resistance to rotting and penetration by fungi. The formation of tyloses is sometimes a response to injury.
Calcium oxalate crystals, I did not know that... is that the culprit?