MILLING A RARE CHESTNUT LOG ON THE SAWMILL, AMAZING LIVE EDGE SLABS 

You need a shirt that says “Pith on It”.

Nice stuff, Nathan. Very, very nice. I make the occasional cigar humidor and that chestnut would make some seriously beautiful boxes.

That chestnut is Beautiful Nathan! My grandfather born in 1892, talked about taking pillow cases and gathering chestnuts for roasting. Here in southeast Pa. The American Chestnut made up about 60% of the forests here. I always have a few on my 8acres but they never get more than an inch or two before the blight takes them out. The American Chestnut Foundation has been working on developing a blight resistant tree for years. Chestnut was often used as a base to be covered with veneer since there was so much of it. Barns, chicken houses and houses were built from it since it was so plentiful and had to be used after the blight hit. I've work with chestnut quite a few times and it's great wood to use. It reminds me a lot of sassafras in the grain but has a unique color of it own and ages down to a lovely brown color. Thanks Kindly Nathan. Every log you saw is like opening a Christmas present. These slabs should go over really big I'd say. How many times do you run into a log and slabs like that? And music wise, check out "Red Tail Wing". They make great music. Peace and Saw dust! DaveyJO in Pa.

What are the slabs used for ? Tables ?

Wow, I never knew Chinese chestnut could look that beautiful. I hope you find more and share with us. Can’t wait to see the rest of that log. I have a feeling what’s left looks even better.

My home was built back in the 19teens. All of the doors and trim are American Chestnut. I baby all of it and have fought off 20 years of my wife wanting to paint some pieces.

One of these days could you show us some slabs that have been air and/or kiln dried? It would be neat to see before and after.

MY MY MY WHAT BEAUTIFUL WOOD YOU HAVE!! GLAD TO HAVE OTW BACK! SURE HAVE MISSED YOU AND TENNESSEE. BEAUTIFUL DRONE VIDEOS!

I read "rare chestnut" in the title & thought, "No way!" Then I saw in the description that it's a Chinese chestnut. Both are pretty lumber.

NICE!!!!

Oh yeah! Bring it on! Beautiful deep grain. When you poured water over it, you could look down into it. Wow. Thanks for sharing!

That is some beautiful wood. I just wish these videos came with smell. I love the way fresh sawn wood smells.

Some amazing slabs of chestnut there Nathan. So good to see you saving this wonderful wood from being used as firewood. It will have a long life as a treasured object bringing joy to people as it did when a live tree!

My dad and I planted three Chinese Chestnuts in 1959. I milled one myself with a chainsaw and made a mountain dulcimer out of it. The other two I gave a local guy with a mill. I traded one log and several white oaks for one of the other logs milled. I have a bunch of lumber I don't know what I will do with, but it is precious to me.

I have four of these in my yard 40 years old give or take. They are pretty large. I am planning on cutting them down due to what a huge pain they are. Each year they have thousands of thorny burs that fall with the chestnuts inside. They make that part of the yard completely useless. Three of the four have very large crotch. I am located in Wilkes NC near North Wilkesboro. I’ll pm you on Facebook if your interested.

Do you sell your slabs via email ? My buddy is shopping for a coffee table and one of your slabs would make for a really nice housewarming gift.

Beautiful slabs, Chinese Chestnut you say... never heard of it either. That mid sized mill will be paid for right quick. Are thinking bigger yet? LOL Thanks for sharing a look at your treasures!

Beautiful grain. Well worth sawing the log. I read that chestnut lumber is indistinguishable from oak, save that chestnut does not display medullary rays the way oak does when quartersawn.

That’s a super piece of timber! Someone is going to turn that into a masterpiece! I’ve Been busy so it’s nice to catch up on your posts and what’s going on at the sawmill - I enjoy my visits to Tennessee. Incidentally, do you take requests? I heard a song the other day called ‘Cedar Lane’ by two girls call ‘First Aid Kit’ - I thought that sounded right up your street! Keep making the sawdust! 👍🏼

Gorgeous. The grain looks swirlier than walnut. I'll take it!

Damn! I wanted to see the milling of the log, but too much talking and hardly any work.

Wonderful slabs, Nathan. Hardly any sapwood either. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the log.

You sawing into a log is like opening up a pirates treasure chest. You don't really know if your going to find empty bottles of rum or jewels and gold. This one truly speaks for itself.

Beautiful slab of timber I can see tables and office desk tops in that !

Invest in a cheap metal detector.

1904 was the first known case of the fungus which wiped out roughly 3+ billion American Chestnut trees by the late 40's

9° blades are all I have, I can’t Compare them with any other blade because it’s all I ever used, 7° blades will be on my to get list once all my 9° are gone, did you hit nail in the Chinese chestnut?

Sign me up for one of those slabs...........

Wow . Black walnut has been my favorite wood for over 50 years. But that's giving it a run for first place. Absolutely gorgeous. I bet it would finish in toung oil even better. That's my favorite finish for walnut. 😊

Well you didn't need me to ok you slabs but I will anyways! I can't help it! So far, that is one beautiful piece of wood!! Can hardly wait to see the rest of it! That would probably make me come out of the house, at noon, in my PJ's to take a look at those beauties! Ha ha!!

I must say I found this very interesting! Very unique. Looks alive. My first thought was a guitar body. Really like how you explain the complexity of cuts and wood grains.

Extraordinary figures in the wood and light enough to make anything modern, Gun Cabinet, China Cabinet, coffee table, etc. My next thought is after a while will it darken up and not be that easy to see the figures?????!!!!! Yo can show us in the next video!!!!!!!!!!!

Cat must be camera shy today. What are you going to do about the exhaust from the larger engine in the shop. I thought you might get an electric powered machine.

I guarantee Nick Offerman watches this channel :) So it's Ron Swanson approved.

Very nice lumber, much prettier than I would have thought.

Wouldn't a metal detector alert you to potential nails? As always you have done a great video.

That is beautiful and looks nothing like American chestnut. I have a close friend that had told me about the house he grew up in. His dad had the den paneled in 1 x 6 chestnut boards and this was 50 plus years ago. Well last spring he happened to drive by the house and they were setting up to take the house down. He stopped and was able to talk the demo crew into letting him take the paneling down and he built a beautiful table with a lot of in then gave me about a dozen 1 x 6 5 foot long. This wood looks like ambrosia maple.

some hand made brass legs with lion paw ball feet ! now i am dreaming ! i was a brass worker and silver soldering factory !

This guy's accent rocks!

15:20 is absolutely incredible and says it all, but I have a stupid question, when you wet it, don't you hurt yourself by adding more dry time...

Whomever you sell these slabs to should be required to send you at least a photo or at best post a video of the finished product. Absolutely beautiful looking wood and I know this video can't do it justice.

Only chestnut ive sawn was old reclaimed beams. Talk about hitting metal, jeez! Thats looking awesome. Id think that should be more valuable than walnut due to rarity

Absolutely beautiful slabs ... so good your back with that awesome sawmill ...thank you!

Why not invest in a metal detector when in doubt a number 40 sawmill is worth the metal detector

That tree will make some amazing bar tops or table tops. Simply beautiful!

Whoa, looks like really good American chestnut...that IS amazing! 👍🏻👍🏻

I could watch this all night long!! Thank you for all the fantastic videos!!

Will that bring the same price as walnut, more or less? Won't be able to find much of that to mill.

Absolutely gorgeous grain. And a gorgeous sawmill, too, for that matter! :)

You called it Nathan, amazing wood! And I agree, that will give walnut a run for the money. The only downside I see is having to wait for it to dry. ❤️💛🧡💙💜

I was in a thrift store one day some years back and came across a homemade picture frame that had been made from wormy Chestnut. It was beautifully crafted, tight corners, very nice hand chiseled detailing. 24 by 36 inches. I happened to have an original oil painting in that size....a nice pasture and barn scene done by a local individual. That picture and frame went together like a duck and a pond.

Was this a live tree? just wondering how you season it so it won't crack 😊

nice looking wood! seems like your learning how to cut pretty good with the new mill!...slow and steady wins the race!

Ok, if you're going to use such cool music, you might need to add a playlist. ;-) Thank you for such an interesting and educational video.

Glad to have you back, love the new woodmizer, and that Chesnut is something special!! Love the videos, and I've even downloaded and paid for a couple of Jason Lowe music albums as well, good stuff Nathan, thank you for sharing your craft!

Hey Nathan, I’d love to possibly get a couple of those slabs to do the kitchen island countertops out of or maybe even my dining room table, who knows , but I do know I have many projects going on that will give a couple of those slabs the attention they deserve. I’ve been looking for some chestnut like that for 2 years and while there are quite a few in the piedmont NC region, there just aren’t many folks that are willing to take any down so a few of these projects have been put on the backburner until the right slabs did come along and I think they just happened to appear if they are not spoken for already. I will send you an email about them in the morning buddy. Are you still selling some of your other walnut slabs and stuff over at the hardware store in Asheville? Been a bit since I’ve been down that way but need to get there again soon and see what they have in stock. Anywhos buddy, another great video again as always. Take care and be safe out there!

Glad you're back! Heard your intro on the Kent Rollins vlog! Are you friends? That chestnut looks great!!

Great video completely!!! Gods creations in a log. What an artist!! The country artistry also. Be safe!

Very nice!

Oh, the other thing I meant to mention is that it looks like you have the positioning/glare issue figured out. Knew you'd do it once you had a chance to try things. Well done.

Beautiful pieces of wood. Could you take a minute or two in one of your videos and explain the debarked?

Stunningly beautiful wood. Now that you have whet the appetite, can't wait to see the finishing of this one and see what the rest of it looks like. I was wondering why you didnt do it all now...then I saw the "to be continued", that is such a TEASE! LOL Love it, anxiously awaiting.

That first cut I thought wood make a beautiful coffee table. Love to see it finished.

That’s a treasure. I like it.

That is some beautiful chesnut my friend. How do you like or dislike not walking along side this new machine? I like the idea of being close to the cut walking aside it vs. Losing sight of it being on the opposite side of the mill when the blades down range. Any thoughts? -Will

No kitty, but, oh, that wood!

sawl it up!!

That is spectacular. Thank you so much for sharing. I love your drone shots with music. Very inspirational.

Gorgeous stuff. Wish there was still some saw-worthy American Chestnut around.

Well --------- That is amazing , carn't wait to see the rest of it , You have had a win there .

Hi, The chestnut slab is the bomb. Move over walnut. Hey, BTW. The music you have at the opening and closing is awesome. Is this your music or from somewhere else? Love the drone footage. Thanks

Chinese Chestnut is the tree that caused the blight of the AMERICAN CHESTNUT tree. 1904 was the first it was discovered somewhere in New York and by the 1950' The American Chestnut was destroyed.

Almost heaven, Northeastern Tennessee.

Beautiful, love the channel. Do you have a website or how would someone go about ordering a slab?

I am actually getting into this aspect of the Timber/Lumber Industry myself. I smashed that like button, and punched the SUBSCRIBE button! Very beautiful, and intricate pieces of Lumber my friend!!! I love the Heart Rings, very clean, and detailed. I'm glad you didn't hit any nails!!! I look forward to seeing more of your videos like this. Thank you for the awesome tutorial. ~Timber Miner Tony T.

Beautiful slabs. Thanks for your channel, without you I would never get to see this. I love beautiful wood and am grateful for all of you independent processors who take the time to get the best out of quality logs.

I’ve been interested in the history of the American chestnut since I went to college at a small school in Bristol, Tennessee in the ‘70s. While day hiking on the Appalachian Trail, I saw these massive stumps, many of them 10 feet in diameter. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but later read a book on the history of the area, and learned of the chestnut blight. It actually started in the 1800s, but by the 1930s was pervasive, and eventually wiped out the chestnuts, which were the dominant species in Eastern forests.

1907 I believe is when the blight started. A NY zookeeper imported a Chinese chestnut and that’s what brought the blight over. It was wiping out our chestnut trees which could grow 70 before their first branch once they are big mature trees. 1 out of 4 trees was a chestnut. That’s a quarter of the forest. Chinese chestnut grows more like the shape of an apple tree instead of a lumber tree.

In case you wonder what can be done with chestnut check this out Amazing Chestnut Violin, Rare Instrument, Exc. of Ashokan Farewell Sound Sample - RU-vid

Hi Nathan at present I am building a bedroom tv cabinet verses clothes storage WORMY CHESTNUT totally awesome beautiful wood. I have been a cabinet maker / stair builder of radius custom stairs, since I was 16 I am now 74. I have worked on some really beautiful lumber. As well as wormy white oak. That tree that you are working on is worth a lot of $$$$$$. Do not let it go too cheap. Thanks for the video you know what you have.

These first 2 slabs shown together would have made a delightful table for an average sized home with perhaps black epoxy through the middle. Again, I would like to have seen at least one more slab, or two, cut. Fantastic wood. Cheers, Don from South Aust.

Just imagine, if that log was american chestnut, you'd have the Holy Grail of slabs, but still very beautiful. That wide head on your mill is sure nice.

they say the Chinese chestnut is blight resistant

That video just sent me on a tour round Wikipedia and now it has made me hungry - the American chestnut is related to the European sweet chestnut the nuts from which get roasted in wintertime and sold by street vendors across Europe. Now of course it's not winter but I want some! There are sweet chestnuts in the UK that are known to be hundreds of years old and which have survived despite the blight which also killed a lot of them off in Europe. The Chinese chestnut, it says in Wiki, is more resistant to the blight and is in fact the tree that brought the blight to the USA. So what you have on your mill, Nathan, is a killer! :) When we Brits think of chestnuts we mostly think of Horse Chestnuts, which actually aren't chestnuts at all but who cares about the detail. We call the nuts from those trees "conkers" and they're used in a popular children's game. There's even a world championship in conkers. That log looks fantastic and the wood, oh my, I'd love some of that. Any rich people out there feel like shipping some over the pond? And that mill... you sure are going to make something out of that, it's so good watching you able to cut slabs without having to cut the wood down to size first. Great video too, I love Tennessee now and I've never been there. Part of the scenery reminds me of England but we don't have sharp pointed mountains in the background, got to go to Wales or Scotland for that.

Do you have a link to any follow up videos to this one regarding this Chestnut log? Wasn't able to find one yet. Thank you. : )

Have you ever had a wood allergy or toxicity or adverse reaction to various wood species? I once acquired a skin dermatitis from Cocobolo and Brazilian Rosewood took five specialists to finally figure out what was going on. Wasn’t fun and I’ve read were there are over thousands of different effects from various species, one Milky Mangrove temporary blindness, headache, burning of the throat, blistering of the skin, and highly potent.

Our house was built in 1927 and has chestnut crown molding, window trim, baseboard, and banaster in the living room. That slab would be perfect for a coffee table. Beautiful. Shame that we lost so much American Chestnut.

American Chestnut still grows in Virginia; primarily in the Shenandoah National Park. Unfortunately because the spore virus that killed the bulk of them off during the 30's is still air-born they only get to about 4-5' tall before they are infected. There are volunteers that scourer the park every year documenting with GPS as many as they can find then another group follows up over the years checking and keeping tabs on them. The Chinese Chestnut is a different species that is not affected by the spore virus. There was talk of creating a hybrid between the two but I have not read anything definitive on the effort.

We have a lot of Chinese chestnut trees here in Pennsylvania. Folks grow em for the nuts they produce and I don’t hear of much use as a wood for lumber. Here are some C. chestnut facts: These are the nuts formerly got roasted on an open fire. Nowadays, people mostly zap em up in the mikey-wave. They are good to eat but they give you farts that can clear a pretty big room. They grow in a hull that has nasty spines when they’re green in the fall. If left around till spring, they dry and then those spines are sharp and stiff and deadly. I good joke is to pick one up (discreetly but with gloves on) and then casually toss it to your buddy and holler catch! His hands will look like hamburger but everyone who is not the victim will have a good laugh. Brings up so many fond memories. 😎👍

Wow, that log is breath taking I, I, I say, breath taking... Need to go take a pith break after that one... Its funny just when you think you seen it all. You can bet you aint seen nothing yet! He just seems to come up with another real pither. Love watchin your video's Thanks so much for sharing. Nothing can compare to Gods beautiful creations in nature.

Very nice.

Hey my friend, I really enjoy your channel and I'm learning a whole lot. Thanks for all the info. There is one thing I would like to ask, do you know of a chart that I could get that would help me to identify the different species of hardwood. I got the pine down but Hardwoods a whole new thing, LOL. Thanks in advance for any help. God bless.

The Chestnut blight was first seen in the states in 1904, and especially in eastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, and western North Carolina, contributed to the hardships of the Great Depression because so many men were employed in the chestnut timber industry. The American Chestnut Foundation was founded in the middle '80s to attempt to backcross chestnut species to obtain a blight-resistant strain and the foundation maintains two major breeding farms in Meadowview, VA. American chestnut trees were enormous, some as large as fourteen feet in diameter at the base, and a famous picture exists of a T-Model Ford parked with all four wheels on the stump of a newly cut chestnut tree.

I cant Express enough ,how I love thee fact you give these majestic trees ,that were enjoyed by us ,in a yard for years and years a whole new purpose and life. Makeing it able to be enjoyed for even longer . A second life. Thank you. Awsome video.

WOW! My driveway is bordered by large chestnuts. One of my Dad's hobbies was to cross American with Chinese, gather the smaller darker nuts and raise them. The initial hybrids were grown near Blair WV and were cut down years ago. Mine are second and third generation, they resist blight, but have blight too. Growth habit is very similar to your specimen, some are larger. I will keep you in mind if one dies or blows down. What huge loss the blight cost us! Get a metal detector!

On the first slab, could you see the mysterious face???? It was near the CAMERA, the croch side. Look really close you see it old man face.

Gosh! That is some amazing beautiful wood slabs! That mill looks pretty cool too! Thanks for sharing! :)

Another good one Nathan. Other u-tubers complain about the 9 degree blades. Please explain why you folks like the 7 better.

That's some beautiful lumber

Awesome 😎