How to Identify Butternut Wood (Juglans cinerea)

Butternut, Juglans cinerea: color, grain, end grain, Janka hardness (490 lbf) and weight, and how to tell it from Black Walnut, quoted from the USDA Wood Handbook and The Wood Database.

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At a glance

Scientific name: Juglans cinerea
Type: Hardwood
Origin: Eastern United States and southeastern Canada
Color: Heartwood usually light to medium tan, sometimes with a reddish tint; growth rings darker, forming fairly distinct grain patterns.
Grain and texture: Grain typically straight, with a medium to coarse texture and silky natural luster.
End grain: Semi-ring-porous; medium-large earlywood pores gradually decreasing to small latewood pores, solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; tyloses occasionally to abundantly present; growth rings distinct; rays barely visible without a lens.
Janka hardness: 490 lbf
Specific gravity (12% MC): 0.38
Other clue: Virtually no scent or odor when being worked; very soft, tends to leave fuzzy surfaces after planing or sanding.

What Butternut looks like

Heartwood usually light to medium tan, sometimes with a reddish tint; growth rings darker, forming fairly distinct grain patterns. Grain typically straight, with a medium to coarse texture and silky natural luster. End grain: Semi-ring-porous; medium-large earlywood pores gradually decreasing to small latewood pores, solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; tyloses occasionally to abundantly present; growth rings distinct; rays barely visible without a lens.

Hardness and weight

Janka hardness 490 lbf (side hardness: the force needed to embed a 0.444-inch steel ball to half its diameter). Specific gravity 0.38 at 12% moisture content, so a cubic foot weighs roughly 24 lb. Weight in the hand is one of the quickest checks: compare a piece of known size against a board you already know.

Butternut vs Black Walnut

Butternut is a lighter-colored relative of black walnut, considerably paler and much softer/lighter in weight (490 lbf vs walnut's 1,010 lbf); walnut also has a faint mild working odor that butternut lacks entirely. The Black Walnut page has its own details.

Smell, weight and other clues

Virtually no scent or odor when being worked; very soft, tends to leave fuzzy surfaces after planing or sanding.

Where you will meet it

Veneer, carving, furniture, interior trim, boxes, and crates.

Working it

Easily worked with hand and machine tools, but its softness causes fuzzy surfaces after planing/sanding, so sharp cutters and fine-grit sandpaper are recommended; no health reactions beyond standard wood-dust risk reported.

How to photograph it for identification

Photograph a freshly cut or sanded face in daylight, not a finished or stained surface, since stain hides color and finish flattens grain. Add a close-up of the end grain: cut a clean end, wet it or sand it to 220, and shoot from straight on; pore pattern and rays are the most reliable marks. Put a ruler in frame. The app suggests the likely species; confirm with the end grain and weight.

FAQ

How hard is Butternut?

Janka hardness 490 lbf. For comparison, Red Oak is about 1,290 lbf and Eastern White Pine about 380 lbf.

How do I tell Butternut from Black Walnut?

Is Butternut a hardwood or a softwood?

Butternut is a hardwood: it comes from a broadleaf tree. Hardwood and softwood describe the kind of tree, not how hard the wood is; some hardwoods are softer than some softwoods.

What color is Butternut?

Heartwood usually light to medium tan, sometimes with a reddish tint; growth rings darker, forming fairly distinct grain patterns.

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