Anyone know the properties of Chinese chestnut? I have several 30+ year old chestnuts that need thinning. I'm going to be cutting every other one and will have some good logs. I was planning on having them milled. Does chestnut make a good material for bows? I'm also going to be cutting a black walnut. I've seen that being used and plan on having that milled as well. Not sure what use I'm going to be making of these boards but thought I'd check to see if they could be used in making a bow.
Thanks.

I have not seen it used very much in bows. I believe the wood is fairly soft and lightweight.

Black walnut I have used for laminated bows and the riser, not sure about chestnut.

You won't likely find any used in bows or just about anything else since the blight wiped out most American chestnuts at the turn of the century. Now all wood is almost completely antique/salvage. From what I've found out on the Net since posting this it is similar in characteristics to oak but lighter. It has a tendancy to split so probably isn't a good choice for bow material assuming that Chinese and Hybrid varieties share the same characteristics.

The Federal wood handbook states:
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Quote:

The heartwood of chestnut is grayish brown or brown and
darkens with age. The sapwood is very narrow and almost
white. The wood is coarse in texture; growth rings are made
conspicuous by several rows of large, distinct pores at the
beginning of each year’s growth. Chestnut wood is moderately
light in weight, moderately hard, moderately low in
strength, moderately low in resistance to shock, and low in
[align=left]stiffness. It dries well and is easy to work with tools.
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