Butternut White Walnut Wood

In fact the butternut tree shares the genus juglans with black walnut.

Butternut white walnut wood.

Native americans and white settlers harvested the buttery fat left from boiling the nuts giving the plant its name. It is often used to make furniture and is a favorite of woodcarvers. Two important past uses of the wood have been for church altars and for wood carvers especially for duck decoys. Butternut lumber angela raimato 2020 08 07t12 09 54 04 00.

Butternut wood is not as hard as black walnut but it is nevertheless valuable for furniture and woodcarving. It is a golden brown member of the walnut family with a cathedral grain pattern that looks like waves breaking on a beach. See illustration below. Butternut is one of north america s most beautiful timbers.

The two are very closely related though butternut is lighter in color considerably lighter and less dense. Butternut trees can be distinguished from black walnut by looking at its fruit. Butternut wood is light in weight and takes polish well and is highly rot resistant but is much softer than black walnut wood. Butternut is sometimes referred to as white walnut due to its light color yet similar grain pattern.

Butternut hardwood flooring. Oiled the grain of the wood usually shows much light. Butternut wood is very stable with little tendency to warp or crack in use. People in new england make maple butternut candy.