Butternut White Walnut Wood

The two are very closely related though butternut is lighter in color considerably lighter and less dense.

Butternut white walnut wood.

Butternut lumber angela raimato 2020 08 07t12 09 54 04 00. Butternut hardwood flooring. People in new england make maple butternut candy. It is often used to make furniture and is a favorite of woodcarvers.

Native americans and white settlers harvested the buttery fat left from boiling the nuts giving the plant its name. Two important past uses of the wood have been for church altars and for wood carvers especially for duck decoys. Butternut wood is not as hard as black walnut but it is nevertheless valuable for furniture and woodcarving. While the difference is not black and white the wood of butternut is considerably lighter colored than black walnut as well as being very soft and lightweight.

It is a golden brown member of the walnut family with a cathedral grain pattern that looks like waves breaking on a beach. Butternut wood is very stable with little tendency to warp or crack in use. Butternut is one of north america s most beautiful timbers. See illustration below.

White walnut golden walnut. In fact the butternut tree shares the genus juglans with black walnut. Butternut wood is light in weight and takes polish well and is highly rot resistant but is much softer than black walnut wood. Butternut s fruit is more oblong or oval shaped while walnut is nearly round.