COMMON NAMES:   Chestnut, American chestnut

SPECIFIC GRAVITY:   0.43

DENSITY:  28 - 38 lbs./cu.ft.

TANGENTIAL MOVEMENT:   6.7%

RADIAL MOVEMENT:   3.4%

VOLUMETRIC SHRINKAGE:

DURABILITY1:   Excellent

SOURCE:  Eastern U.S., from New England to northern Georgia

DESCRIPTION:   A coarse, soft, ring-porous wood that resembles ash. Machines and finishes easily. Chestnut's color is tan to grayish brown, becoming darker with age. Nicely suited to furnituremaking, but much lighter and softer than oak. Once the most plentiful hardwood in eastern forests, practically all American chestnuts were wiped out by a blight that began in the early 20th Century and still affects living chestnuts today. Standing dead timber is still found in the Appalachians. One of the best sources of chestnut is from reclaimed barn timbers. Chestnut that was attacked by insects after the blight, exhibits black worm holes and is referred to as wormy chestnut.

1 Durability refers to a wood's resistance to rotting in wet environments.