# What's butternut worth



## sprucegum

I came by some butternut logs, 3 nice ones so far and a couple more on the way. I rarely see it for sale and I don't really know how to price it. Think I will mill it into cants to resaw to meet demand.

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## woodtickgreg

I don't know about pricing but I know it turns nice.


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## sprucegum

I have used a few small boards over the years. Definitely a nice wood to work. I have found a little online at crazy prices for little carving and turning blocks. I just rarely see it for sale by the board ft


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## Sprung

I purchased some boards of it at a lumber yard in the Twin Cities a while ago. Don't remember what I paid, but it's some nice looking wood. Still waiting for the right project for it. Wish it was a more available wood - it's not a wood that I've seen available for sale often.


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## Ralph Muhs

sprucegum said:


> I have used a few small boards over the years. Definitely a nice wood to work. I have found a little online at crazy prices for little carving and turning blocks. I just rarely see it for sale by the board ft


Is butternut the same as “white walnut”?

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## Mr. Peet

Ralph Muhs said:


> Is butternut the same as “white walnut”?



Sometimes Ralph. Sometimes 'white walnut' is the white sapwood of walnut. Just best to ask out-right before being hooked.

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## Mr. Peet

sprucegum said:


> I have used a few small boards over the years. Definitely a nice wood to work. I have found a little online at crazy prices for little carving and turning blocks. I just rarely see it for sale by the board ft



Was going for $7 a bdft for flat and rift. Wormy was $10 and up. Didn't see 1/4 sawn listed local. Think these were kiln, not sure.

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## barry richardson

@Allen Tomaszek mills and sells a lot of it. Maybe he can chime in... I know its.popular with carvers, but I'm not sure why, I found it kinda coarse grained and hard to hold detail... But I would use all I could get for the flag and shadow boxes I make...

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## sprucegum

Ralph Muhs said:


> Is butternut the same as “white walnut”?


I know it is often called white walnut.


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## sprucegum

Sprung said:


> I purchased some boards of it at a lumber yard in the Twin Cities a while ago. Don't remember what I paid, but it's some nice looking wood. Still waiting for the right project for it. Wish it was a more available wood - it's not a wood that I've seen available for sale often.



Big mills don't pay a lot for the logs, probably because there is not enough available to make it worth messing with. These came off a maple lot my son is cutting. He couldn't get much for them at the yard the maple is going to and he can't haul 6 logs very far out of his way on a kenworth.

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## Nature Man

@FranklinWorkshops - What is your experience with Butternut? Chuck

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## phinds

Ralph Muhs said:


> Is butternut the same as “white walnut”?


for some reason, several kinds of hickory also use the alternate common name white walnut. Makes no sense to me but I call'm like I find'm. Also, in Australia, where the names are mostly screwed up () Australian she beech (Cryptocarya obovata) is also called white walnut.

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## sprucegum

I think the problem may have been solved. Two days ago my son called to say he had some butternut logs that the buying yard where the maple was going wouldn't pay much for them. He said I could saw them and sell or use the lumber and pay what the yard would pay. This morning he wondered if it would make good wainscoting in the addition he is planning for his house. Looks like I am milling it for him and will probably get a little lumber in trade. As a bonus I will probably get to dry it, plane it, t&g it, bead it, and install it. I I'm lucky I will have a little to use myself and a few wood barter boxes.

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## Allen Tomaszek

We sell quite a bit of Butternut. Logs are not easy to come by but I seem to find enough to keep me going.

Prices for lumber is a wide range of $2-$10bf depending on grade, thickness and width. Most Butternut logs around here tend to be on the small side.12”-14” is common as they die out from canker disease.

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## FranklinWorkshops

Here is an extract of the price list at Hearne Hardwoods. Goes from $7 to $16 depending on thickness, length and width.

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## FranklinWorkshops

I sell a lot of it to spoon carvers. Here are some photos of spoons that are butternut.

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## sprucegum

FranklinWorkshops said:


> Here is an extract of the price list at Hearne Hardwoods. Goes from $7 to $16 depending on thickness, length and width.
> 
> View attachment 196512


Now I'm feeling bad that he decided to have me mill it for his own use. I will try to remember to get some pictures next week but I'm seeing lots of 8 and 10 ft boards up to perhaps 16 inches wide and I'm not seeing many defects. The tree made 3 nice logs and one crooked knotty one. He has another tree that I have not seen that was on the ground hopefully it is not too far gone.

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## FranklinWorkshops

sprucegum said:


> Now I'm feeling bad that he decided to have me mill it for his own use. I will try to remember to get some pictures next week but I'm seeing lots of 8 and 10 ft boards up to perhaps 16 inches wide and I'm not seeing many defects. The tree made 3 nice logs and one crooked knotty one. He has another tree that I have not seen that was on the ground hopefully it is not too far gone.


If you could cut some 12/4 or even 16/4 boards, those will sell well to woodcarvers and turners. Butternut also seems to be easy to air-dry so some turners may want to buy blanks and set them aside for later.

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## JerseyHighlander

I was hoping to get up north for a deer hunt this fall.., doesn't look like that will be working out, would have certainly taken a few green rounds of that off your hands. 

I'm surprised you found Butternut that far north... What area?
Those spoons Larry posted are pretty typical of the color but it occasionally has quite a beautiful red color to it that can raise the price pretty well.


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## sprucegum

JerseyHighlander said:


> I was hoping to get up north for a deer hunt this fall.., doesn't look like that will be working out, would have certainly taken a few green rounds of that off your hands.
> 
> I'm surprised you found Butternut that far north... What area?
> Those spoons Larry posted are pretty typical of the color but it occasionally has quite a beautiful red color to it that can raise the price pretty well.


Butternut is kind of a one or two tree here and there deal around here. Many of the old farmsteads had a couple trees in the yard. My grandmother used to get the nuts from a tree growing beside a old cellar hole. She would dry them then coerce my grandfather into taking them out to the shop to break them open with a hammer. Great brownies but what a job. Because they are so uncommon I don't think we have as much canker as some places. The tree I have was healthy. The top log is not really sawmill material crooked and knotty should make some blanks of some kind.

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## FranklinWorkshops

Dave, I'll bet that top log with the knots will yield many pieces of compression curl and maybe some crotch figure. I've had some crotch butternut and it went to a turner who loved it. That may end up being your most valuable log. Please post some photos of that lumber.

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## FranklinWorkshops

JerseyHighlander said:


> I was hoping to get up north for a deer hunt this fall.., doesn't look like that will be working out, would have certainly taken a few green rounds of that off your hands.
> 
> I'm surprised you found Butternut that far north... What area?
> Those spoons Larry posted are pretty typical of the color but it occasionally has quite a beautiful red color to it that can raise the price pretty well.


In fact, in the bottom photo above, the five spoons on the right are from that reddish butternut while the two on the left are the typical color.

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## sprucegum

FranklinWorkshops said:


> Dave, I'll bet that top log with the knots will yield many pieces of compression curl and maybe some crotch figure. I've had some crotch butternut and it went to a turner who loved it. That may end up being your most valuable log. Please post some photos of that lumber.


Ha ha I had to fight for that one he wanted to send it through the chipper. Hi production loggers don't like to spend time on wood that won't go through a mechanical delimber. I'm sure there were blanks in the limbs that did get chipped. If I ever get my house, and shop completely finished I want to spend some time on the logging jobs salvaging wood with a chainsaw.

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## eaglea1

Butternut grows commonly around Wisconsin, and it's great for hand carving.


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## Mr. Peet

JerseyHighlander said:


> I was hoping to get up north for a deer hunt this fall.., doesn't look like that will be working out, would have certainly taken a few green rounds of that off your hands.
> 
> I'm surprised you found Butternut that far north... What area?
> Those spoons Larry posted are pretty typical of the color but it occasionally has quite a beautiful red color to it that can raise the price pretty well.



Any butternut that shows red color is very likely not butternut, but more likely a hybrid of or a separate related species. It is just another blanket treatment of a wood, for some to capitalize on gain.

The most common is the Japanese walnut and American butternut hybrid. It often has wood that has hues of pink, salmon, mauve and other possibilities. American butternut is a small tree compared to black walnut. The American butternut has been bred with the Japanese walnut in the US for just over 200 years. The two species are very close genetically. Almost all of the butternut sold on the eastcoast is not pure American butternut. There are a few pockets left in the Dacs of NY and in NH, VT and Maine. A few along the AP trail and scattered pockets in the midwest as well. The hybrid of the two is often bigger than both parents. The bark and nuts shown clear signs of parentage, but just looking at the wood is not enough.

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## sprucegum

Here they are two 8s and two 10s. The last picture is maple and birch veneer of the same job

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## JerseyHighlander

sprucegum said:


> Butternut is kind of a one or two tree here and there deal around here. Many of the old farmsteads had a couple trees in the yard. My grandmother used to get the nuts from a tree growing beside a old cellar hole. She would dry them then coerce my grandfather into taking them out to the shop to break them open with a hammer. Great brownies but what a job. Because they are so uncommon I don't think we have as much canker as some places. The tree I have was healthy. The top log is not really sawmill material crooked and knotty should make some blanks of some kind.


Grandma's were smarter then we gave them credit for. Never hurts to have diverse foods growing on your own property & Walnut/Butternut is one of the best IMHO. I intend on relocating to the north, probably New Hampshire and would love to have/plant a grove of Walnut trees on the property but most of the information says, beyond scattered pockets, it's a bit beyond their range.
I've collected some Walnuts from trees on the old Gustav Stickley estate near here, would love to transplant them.

What diameter is the top log? Bends/crooks etc go right along with the type of carving I do. Maybe we can do some business through the mail.


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## JerseyHighlander

sprucegum said:


> Here they are two 8s and two 10s. The last picture is maple and birch veneer of the same job
> 
> View attachment 196549
> 
> View attachment 196550
> 
> View attachment 196551
> 
> View attachment 196552
> 
> View attachment 196554
> 
> View attachment 196555



Interesting.... No where near as much sapwood as Walnut.
Thos are some pretty Birch. Making me drool on my laptop.

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## sprucegum

Top end is about 8". Butternut is native to northern VT. You won't find much walnut unless it is a set out tree and those don't seem to do well.


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## FranklinWorkshops

That's a great looking log yard, Dave. Looks like you have some maple crotches which should be nice. That size butternut is hard to find here in PA. Do you have a kiln?

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## FranklinWorkshops

Mr. Peet said:


> Any butternut that shows red color is very likely not butternut, but more likely a hybrid of or a separate related species. It is just another blanket treatment of a wood, for some to capitalize on gain.
> 
> The most common is the Japanese walnut and American butternut hybrid. It often has wood that has hues of pink, salmon, mauve and other possibilities. American butternut is a small tree compared to black walnut. The American butternut has been bred with the Japanese walnut in the US for just over 200 years. The two species are very close genetically. Almost all of the butternut sold on the eastcoast is not pure American butternut. There are a few pockets left in the Dacs of NY and in NH, VT and Maine. A few along the AP trail and scattered pockets in the midwest as well. The hybrid of the two is often bigger than both parents. The bark and nuts shown clear signs of parentage, but just looking at the wood is not enough.


So the current canker disease is attacking the hybrids?

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## sprucegum

FranklinWorkshops said:


> That's a great looking log yard, Dave. Looks like you have some maple crotches which should be nice. That size butternut is hard to find here in PA. Do you have a kiln?


No kiln, the log yard is on my property but the logs belong to my son. The maple logs are cut 16' and will go to a mill that makes crane mats and pallets. I'm sure they pick out some of the better lumber to sell for higher uses. I can pick all of the crotch wood I want out of the firewood pile and he would never miss it. So much wood so many projects so little time.


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## FranklinWorkshops

sprucegum said:


> So much wood so many projects so little time.



My problem also. Too much lumber, too little time. Good luck finding a suitable buyer for that butternut. Those logs are great.

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## Mr. Peet

FranklinWorkshops said:


> So the current canker disease is attacking the hybrids?



Yes, the higher the American %, the higher the canker risks. The Japanese walnut has been dealing with the canker so it is less of an issue. Similar to the issues the American chestnut had with the blight from Chinese chestnut.

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## Bill Ragosta

I've been looking for some clear Butternut boards to build a barrister's bookcase and it's pretty commonly seen in central NY (I live in northern PA) for around $2/board foot. I just came upon a 16"X8' log that a gentleman has offered to trade me for a curly maple (or cherry or walnut) gunstock blank. I don't suppose I'll know for sure until I get it milled by a buddy of mine, but it appears to have only a very thin layer of sapwood and a very small pith in the center, so I'm hopeful to get the 5/4" boards I need for the bookcase, plus some 3" carving planks and maybe a 10/4" board for muzzleloader stocks as well. It really doesn't seem to be in very high demand, although it's not as if there's tons of it on the market either. If you need it though and keep your eyes open, you can purchase it very reasonably in my area.

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## Pointer

Dave, if you still have some that you would like to sell, I would swing by and grab a board or two.


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## sprucegum

Pointer said:


> Dave, if you still have some that you would like to sell, I would swing by and grab a board or two.


Been wondering if you were still around. Haven't even put it on the mill yet. I think the boys put a couple loads of veneer logs on top of it. Veneer buyer is coming Monday maybe I can get them dug out. My son has decided to use most of it for trim on his planned addition. Depending on what you are looking for maybe we can sneak away with a couple.


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## Pointer

Yup, I'm still round. :) I actually figured you hadn't milled it yet since the discussion started in November. I don't really have anything special in mind. Maybe a piece or two for my son to whittle some spoons and maybe some accent strips on something in the future. Don't rush to mill it. I am not in a hurry. When you get around to it, I would like to buy some pieces if there are any extras.


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## sprucegum

Pointer said:


> Yup, I'm still round. :) I actually figured you hadn't milled it yet since the discussion started in November. I don't really have anything special in mind. Maybe a piece or two for my son to whittle some spoons and maybe some accent strips on something in the future. Don't rush to mill it. I am not in a hurry. When you get around to it, I would like to buy some pieces if there are any extras.


Reckon you could get spoon blanks from the slab pile.


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## Pointer

Probably, they don't have to be too big.

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## sprucegum

I plan on putting my mill in the shop next warm day. I have list of minor adjustments and repairs to do. My son has been cutting hardwood big time all winter and has saved me up quite a pile of odds and ends. I have the butternut, BEM, burl and crotch cherry and who knows what else. Hoping to get going on it soon. I don't like milling when it's much below freezing the mill doesn't like it any better than I do  I will let you know when I get things going you can come spend some time picking through the bounty


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## Pointer

Sounds good, thanks Dave.


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