How To Market American Chestnut?

[silentcrow]

Years ago, my dad tore down a barn made of wormy American Chestnut. I recently moved a stack of lumber from under the porch, and believe this is it. How do I go about pricing and finding a buyer for this wood?

It's old (gray), some is split, but nearly all is usable. They are rough-cut and various thickness and length. I was going to use it for a chicken coop until I realized what it was. I smoothed down a small piece so the grain could be seen better.





Am I right about what it is? Thanks for any tips/suggestions!

[just_sawing]

Craigs list is all that you need. I have never sold any but is I had some and was willing to sell it would be at the minimum 6 or 7 dollars per foot. I would set up to be able to plane or sand the wood so the small customer would buy.

[Ken Scharabok]

To me it looks like oak.

[silentcrow]

Originally Posted by Ken Scharabok

To me it looks like oak.

Does oak also have worm holes? I don't know much about wood or identifying it. The pictures don't show everything well, and that was from a board that was mostly burned. The majority had rotted from moisture. That bit was still solid.
I sorted the pile and got rid of the stuff with the worst rot. Been under the porch, carefully stacked by my dad, for over 10 years.

Is there some way to make a positive ID without hiring someone?

[dave_p]

It does look like chestnut to me. I salvaged some from a very old church pew once, a friend had me cut it down from 12 feet to 6, for a bench. The leftover pieces were wide boards, I made a coffee table from these two boards, one was an inch thick and the other was almost two inches. I also made a clock out of one piece, I will try to post a pic later today of the clock for comparison.
Don't know where to market it, craigslist sounds like a good place to start. dp

[ldc]

You need a list of furniture makers to sell this chestnut to! How about Norm Abrams of The Yankee Workshop? People who make furniture travel huge distances to buy specialty woods. Or find a broker;my family sold some native cherry to a broker for Japanese furniture makers about 6 yrs ago. ldc

[michael.hickman]

Chestnut has about the same qualities of Oak but is lighter. Oak does get worm holes also. I'm not a professional so I couldn't ID a piece from a pic.

[silentcrow]

I'm thinking this has a better chance of being AC than oak. My dad would not have taken such care in storing it if it had been oak. He also would have used oak for around-the-house projects. This was never used, except in trade to a few of his fellow knappers. They made special display cabinets for arrow heads and stone knife blades/tools.

I could try to get better pictures, but it would require a good deal of sanding. I've got so many other projects going, I just don't have the time, or the belts for the sander

Any ideas how to measure? I saw one site that listed by the square foot, but most use some other way (board foot? linear?) Most of the wood is 3 inches or more thick, with some thinner planks.

Thanks!

[fishhead]

Does your state have a forestry dept? I would assume a forester could tell you by looking at a sample.

[Randy Rooster]

Hard to tell by your pics but it could be wormy chestnut. Chestnut is lighter than oak and not as dense and easier to work. I bought 1500 bf of chestnut many years ago for the bargain prince of $1 a bf and sold most of it to a high end cabinet maker for $10 a bf several years later. Id check with local cabinet and furniture makers - let them know you have it- take them a sample to look at.

[Randy Rooster]

A bf would be a piece one inch thick and 12 inches square. One board foot of lumber is equal to 144 cubic inches no matter how its cut.

Example- A 3" x 3" x 16 " long piece is exactly 1 bf.

The more I look at the bottom pic of your lumber, the more convinced I am that its Chestnut.

[silentcrow]

Thanks! I had no idea how to measure

The top piece was sprayed with a clear varnish, just so it could be seen better. The bottom pic is natural. They were smoothed with a wood rasp, just to get the gray/age off and show the grain and a bit of color.

[silentcrow]

Originally Posted by fishhead

Does your state have a forestry dept? I would assume a forester could tell you by looking at a sample.

Oh! You just gave me an idea! My neighbor used to work for the Forest Service here. He's an older gent with a good bit of knowledge! I may stop over with a dozen eggs and a piece of wood, and see if he can tell me. Thanks!

[fatrat]

Chestnut and oak look very similar and have similar qualities. A friend gave me some wormy chestnut from his tobacco barn last year. I suppose any wood can have worm holes but if it came from a barn at least a hundred years old in Appalachia or the surrounding regions chances are good that it is chestnut. They liked chestnut for building because it was nice and tall and straight.

[deb]

If you don't have a way to market them locally, you could sell the boards on eBAY. We bought some tiger maple boards on eBAY for a project DH had.

deb
in wi

[vicki in NW OH]

That is definitely chestnut. All of the woodwork and floors in my house is chestnut. I would look online for the woodworkers who redo old woods. Chestnut sells for the most bucks.

[canfossi]

You could maybe sell it as distress flooring for older period homes. A lot of people are trying to make new things look old. Good luck! Chris

[Shadow]

What you have apprears to be American Chestnut. First just how big are the pieces you have and how many. How long, how wide, how thick how many. The piece you show is not really very long and is season cracked. If you have enough to actually make something I would be interested if it would be worth a trip to buy it. Let me know how much and condition and we will go from there. I have several pieces in the wood storage building and make bowls and some carvings from the pieces I have. Thanks David

[Yvonne's hubby]

It looks like chestnut to me. Wish you were closer to me, I would be happy to have it at your very reasonable price of 7 bucks a foot. The freight would run the cost way up though, that is going to be a problem unless you find someone fairly close to sell it to. My truck only gets about 8 mpg so a round trip to pick it up would be a real killer.

[beowoulf90]

Originally Posted by silentcrow

Oh! You just gave me an idea! My neighbor used to work for the Forest Service here. He's an older gent with a good bit of knowledge! I may stop over with a dozen eggs and a piece of wood, and see if he can tell me. Thanks!

Oh you have got to love the bribery...

I sold a truck load of AC years ago to a fellow with a portable bandsaw mill. he used it to make flooring to sell .. So check out the flooring guys..

Good luck!