Species data
Sweet Chestnut
Castanea sativa - a hardwood from europe and Asia Minor. Also sold as spanish chestnut, european chestnut.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 680 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,248,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.59 |
| Density | 36.8 lb/ft3 (590 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 3.07 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 6.9% tangential / 4.2% radial |
| Indicative price | $9.00 per board foot (estimated) |
Values are at about 12% moisture content. Density is specific gravity times 62.4; a board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so weight per board foot is that density divided by twelve. Anything marked estimated is our own figure, not a measured one.
How Sweet Chestnut compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 30% of them, heavier than 43%, and stiffer than 17%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Sweet Chestnut it weighs about 16.4 lb. A stack of ten is 164 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Sweet Chestnut is about 56% as hard and 84% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 6.9% tangential against 4.2% radial, a ratio of 1.6 to 1. The wider that ratio, the more unevenly a flatsawn board moves across its width as humidity changes, and the more it wants to cup; anything near or above 2 to 1 is worth quartersawing or restraining for panels and wide tops. This one moves comparatively evenly.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Sweet Chestnut on hardness in this database: Loblolly Pine (690 lbf), Shortleaf Pine (690 lbf), Silver Maple (700 lbf), Sassafras (630 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Generally easy, but splits readily so nail with care; its high tannin corrodes iron
Durability. Durable to very durable, yet still prone to insect attack
Typical uses. furniture, veneer, carving.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (cites USDA FPL Wood Handbook). CT/CR omitted: sweet chestnut is not listed in the FPL/Hoadley dimensional change coefficient table. Uses, region, durability and workability summarized from The Wood Database. Price indicative.
These calculators are for planning and estimation. Engineering results (shelf sag, wood movement) use published average material properties; real boards vary by grade, grain, moisture and defects. Verify load-bearing designs with a professional.