Castanea sativa
Sweet Chestnut
A lighter, softer cousin of oak. Tannin-rich heartwood gives it real durability outdoors, but those same tannins react with iron, so fixings need to be stainless or brass.
- Cultivada e abatida na Europa.
- Grupo botânico. As madeiras de coníferas vêm de coníferas; as folhosas vêm de árvores de folha larga.
- Família botânica a que pertence a espécie.
Receber aviso quando chegarEspécie de referência. Sem peças em stock neste momento.
É adequada ao seu projeto?
Ótima para
- External cladding and rainscreens
- Interior wall and ceiling panelling
- Barn-style and rustic furniture frames
- Garden furniture and pergolas
- Coopered tanks, vats, and planters
- Beams and exposed structural framing
Sem Sweet Chestnut na seleção atual
Espécies semelhantes em stock
Não há Sweet Chestnut neste momento. Estas espécies servem para os mesmos projetos e têm peças disponíveis.
Receba notificações sobre Sweet Chestnut
Enviamos um e-mail quando chegam à KORENA novas pranchas de Sweet Chestnut. Cada peça é única, por isso é importante saber cedo.
Aspeto da madeira
Qual é o seu aspeto
Straight-grained and coarse-textured, with prominent ring-porous figure that reads as oak at a glance. Heartwood is a warm honey-brown that ambers with age; sapwood is a narrow pale band. Lacks oak's strong medullary rays, so quartersawn faces are calmer and less flecked.
- Heartwood: warm honey to mid-brown, ambers with age
- Sapwood: narrow, pale cream to light straw
- Fumed: deep chocolate to near-black with ammonia
- Oiled: pulls warmer and slightly redder than oak
- Weathered outdoors: silver-grey patina within 1–2 seasons
- Straight grain, coarse texture; resembles oak.
Trabalhar esta madeira
Como se trabalha
Saws and planes well with sharp tooling. Softer than oak, so it dents more easily but is also kinder on edges. Splits readily when screwed near ends or edges, pre-drill and countersink. Glues and steam-bends predictably. Turning is workable but the coarse grain can tear on end-grain cuts.
Acabamento
Takes oil, hardwax, and water-based finishes cleanly. Open pores benefit from a grain filler if you want a glass-flat surface, or leave them open for a tactile, oak-like read. Fuming with ammonia darkens it deeply thanks to the high tannin content. Test stains on offcuts, tannins can pull cool tones grey.
Secagem
Dries slowly and is prone to ring shake and honeycomb if pushed. Air-dry to around 25–30% MC before kilning, then run a gentle schedule. Movement in service is moderate, tangential shrinkage near 7% means wide boards want room to move in panels and tabletops.
Quanto se irá mover?
A madeira incha e contrai-se na largura à medida que o ar fica mais húmido ou mais seco. Estime o movimento sazonal de um tampo de Sweet Chestnut antes de desenhar as fixações.
Movimento sazonal previsto
cerca de 7,7 mm
Fixe o tampo com fixadores ou suportes com rasgos, não com cola ou parafusos apertados.
Modelo de retração linear: largura × (retração ÷ 28 % de saturação das fibras) × variação sazonal da humidade. Usa uma retração tangencial de 6,75 % para Sweet Chestnut. É uma estimativa de planeamento, não uma garantia.
Quanto custa
Segurança e origem
- Cultivada e abatida na Europa.
- Estado na Lista Vermelha da UICN: a avaliação mundial de conservação desta espécie.
Dust is a reported skin and respiratory sensitiser, extract at source and wear a fitted mask when sanding or routing. Heartwood is rated food-contact safe once finished. Critical detail: chestnut tannins react with iron and produce black staining wherever the two meet in the presence of moisture. Use stainless steel or brass fixings, and keep iron tooling off damp stock.
Ler o guia completoNotas detalhadas sobre desenho, alteração da cor, trabalho e estabilidade.
What Sweet Chestnut actually is#
Castanea sativa is often sold as the light alternative to oak, and for appearance and durability that description holds. It is ring porous with a similar grain pattern, it carries a similar warm brown colour, and at decay class 2 it is genuinely durable outdoors.
Where the comparison breaks down is hardness. At 3,010 N Janka chestnut is the softest hardwood in this catalogue apart from black poplar, softer than Scots Pine and less than two thirds as hard as oak. Anyone expecting oak-like wear resistance from an oak-like appearance will be disappointed.
The other difference is visible: chestnut lacks oak's prominent rays, so a quartersawn chestnut board shows no ray fleck.
Ring shake, which is the thing to inspect for#
Chestnut is notably prone to ring shake, a separation along a growth ring inside the log.
The problem is that it frequently does not show on a rough sawn face. A board looks sound, gets machined, and the shake opens into a crescent shaped split that follows the ring and effectively ruins it.
This is the main reason chestnut yields far less usable timber than the abundance of the tree suggests, and it is the main reason to look carefully rather than quickly at a chestnut slab. Check end grain for any ring separation, and look along the length in raking light for a crescent line.
Perguntas dos compradores
Perguntas dos compradores
How is Sweet Chestnut different from oak?
It looks similar and is durable like oak, but it is much lighter and softer at 590 kg per cubic metre and 3,010 N Janka against 675 and 4,980 for European oak. Chestnut also lacks the prominent rays, so it has no ray fleck on quartersawn faces. It is often described as oak without the weight, which is fair for appearance and durability but not for hardness.
What is ring shake and why does it matter in chestnut?
A separation along a growth ring inside the log, which chestnut is particularly prone to. It may be invisible on a rough sawn surface and open up after machining, effectively ruining a board. It is the main reason chestnut yields less usable timber than its abundance suggests, and the main thing to inspect for when buying.
Can it be used outdoors?
Yes. At decay class 2 it is durable, and its high tannin content gives real resistance to rot. Chestnut has been the traditional European timber for fencing, cladding, shingles and outdoor structures for centuries, and coppiced chestnut fence posts are still a standard product.
Does it stain black like oak?
Propriedades mecânicas
Dados técnicos
Valores de referência publicados. Quando as fontes divergem, é apresentado o intervalo e o valor típico é usado nas escalas acima.
| Densidade (kg/m³)Massa por metro cúbico com cerca de 12 % de humidade. A madeira mais pesada costuma ser mais dura e resistente. | 540–650 kg/m³típico: 590 kg/m³ |
|---|---|
| Dureza Janka (N)Força necessária para pressionar uma esfera de aço até metade da sua profundidade na madeira. É a medida habitual de resistência a mossas. | 2,700–3,300 Ntípico: 3010 N |
| MOR: módulo de rutura (MPa)Resistência à flexão: a carga com que uma viga parte. | 70–85 MPa |
| MOE: módulo de elasticidade (GPa)Rigidez à flexão: quanto uma prateleira ou um tampo flete sob carga. | 8.0–10.0 GPa |
| Retração radialRetração perpendicular aos anéis de crescimento, do estado verde à secagem em estufa. É este o movimento das tábuas de corte radial. | 3.5–4.5 % |
| Retração tangencial |
