wood type confirmation

[bash]

I brought a few boards home from a barn torn down in WV. After telling the gentleman who owned the barn what type of wood I thought it was, he would only give me a few boards and wanted to hold on to the rest. Can anybody confirm the type of wood, and what a fair price would be for rough 1" barn siding (weathered, nail holes, etc.) of this wood? I ran two narrow pieces across the jointer and rubbed MS on the top half in the picture below. Most of my boards are 18" to 21" wide, but there are a lot of wider boards that he held onto.
Thanks,
Bruce

View image in gallery​

 

[bob vaughan]

Its impossible to guess for sure without closely examining the wood and hefting it for density. Its a ring porous species for sure. The knot doesn't have a lot of flair. It could be sassafras, an oak, chestnut, or other type. The photo makes the wood look more light colored than sassafras and chestnut. The specimen will need to be handled by someone familiar with the various ring porous species to be more certain.

 

[JackLeg]

My first thought was chestnut! :dontknow:

 

[bash]

Thanks. I am reasonably sure it is American Chestnut. Any input on a fair price to offer for wide (18" - 24") old barn siding boards? They are solid, but very weathered and lots of nail holes (from square nails) every few feet.

 

[Gregory Paolini]

On the surface, and via the photo, it looks like chestnut to me as well.

Chestnut is a strange wood, as far as price goes - I had a man approach me, who tore down a barn, and had 100's, if not 1000's of bd/ft of it, and told me $2 bd/ft - On the same note, I've also seen people selling it for $9-$10 a bd/ft, and selling out of it.

Anyway, That's my two cents - Hope it helps

 

[bwat]

From the small photo, described aged, use and width support the chestnut label. Before purchase in any volume be sure you can get usable lumber to meet your needs. I have had some beautiful 5/4 wormy chestnut barn lumber that due to weathering & warping only produced 5/8 finished stock. It is beautiful lumber and contrasts very well with walnut and other dark lumber.

 

[Jeff]

If it's American Chestnut from WVa then I imagine that it's going to demand a high $/bf price. As Will Rogers said about land in America "they ain't makin' any more of that stuff".

The chestnut was virtually wiped out by about 1940 so this wood is probably at least 70 years old at the minimum. See this link, paragraph 4, which states that about 25% of Appalachian trees were chestnut prior to the blight. A very common building product back then which yielded long, wide boards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut_blight

I'm guessing that your friend in WVa is sitting on a gold mine and he wants to get his prices right to capitalize on that. :dontknow:

 

[bash]

Thanks for all the input. My dad told me that they harvested the dead chestnut trees in that area for another decade or so, but also a lot of them were left to fall and rot. I just didn't know if there was a lot of this old barn lumber available as it is weathered but otherwise solid (at least the boards from this barn which was probably built in the 1920's). Anyway, I will try to get him to give me a price on the rest of the lumber as this wormy chestnut will look nice in many projects. First up - a miniature chest to thank the gentleman for the boards he gave me.

 

[Kyle]

If the EAB has its way, Green Ash will join chestnut.

 

[Jeff]

Hearne Hardwoods offers American chestnut, but their boards are only 8.5" maximum width. A far cry from the old growth timber that BASH found which is 18"-21" and wider. OMG those must have been majestic trees in their heyday.

Note: Call for pricing, but sit down first. :roll:

http://www.hearnehardwoods.com/hardwoods/pricelist/pricelist.html

 

[Kyle]

On the surface, and via the photo, it looks like chestnut to me as well.

Chestnut is a strange wood, as far as price goes - I had a man approach me, who tore down a barn, and had 100's, if not 1000's of bd/ft of it, and told me $2 bd/ft - On the same note, I've also seen people selling it for $9-$10 a bd/ft, and selling out of it.

Anyway, That's my two cents - Hope it helps

I would second that assessment. I just don't understand the pricing scheme regarding wood with major beetle damage.

I have been offered qty ranging from 2-7/bf but the market is very limited and has to accommodate a rustic atmosphere.