# Ash, Who Knew?



## sreilly (May 22, 2018)

So I messed up the 2 pieces of 1" thick maple I needed for my 3-in-1 supports so it was off to the wood yard after getting my broken molar repaired....Couldn't find any 5/4 soft maple and the 6/4 was more than I needed both in width and length so I got a nice piece of 5/4 hard maple which looks great after running it on the jointer as then the planner. Of course after the first pass on the planer I decided it was a good time to replace the cutters (helix head) and used a small brass brush (like a tooth brush) to clean the cylinder from saw dust and debris so the cutters would register properly. Next pass was way nicer. But no surprise there.

No my surprise was when I ran a board of Ash that I had gotten. As I was looking for that maple I needed I came across a pile of Ash. I've heard of it of course but never worked any of it. Wasn't sure but thought it was a hardwood which I confirmed. But what it looked like in the rough wasn't all that impressive but now that I ran the jointer on one side to flatten and one edge I was a bit impressed. But hold the presses....next the planner and man that stuff looks great. I can't wait to come up with a project for this, maybe a cabinet for my hand planes...

First 2 are ash and the second is hard maple. I noticed those circular features in the maple and regardless of the feed direction on the planer it looks like they'll need the scraper.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I'm fond of Ash. Nice light wood. Cuts and joins well. That's a particularly pretty chunk.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Great wood, and the piece you picked out has supurb grain.
Herb


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## Inor (Aug 15, 2019)

I have a great piece of ash sitting in my shop. It is 12/4 thick (rough sawn), about 10 inches wide and 10 feet long. I bought it because it was really cheap - about $30. I have no use in mind for it and frankly, am kind of scared to cut into it for fear of ruining it. I am pretty sure there is some pretty special grain sitting under that rough cut, but... I have never worked ash before.

Oh well, Andy Rooney (the commentator on 60 Minutes in the 70's and 80's) had over 1500 board feet of hardwood stacked in the racks of his shop for no other purpose than to go look at it once in a while. Maybe that is what this is for too?


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

That is funny. Wood is to make things. Do you have the tools to plane and resaw some of it? It is really strong wood, they make BB bats and axe,shovel,hammer handles out of it, Tables and chairs too.

Herb


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Inor said:


> I have a great piece of ash sitting in my shop. It is 12/4 thick (rough sawn), about 10 inches wide and 10 feet long. I bought it because it was really cheap - about $30. I have no use in mind for it and frankly, am kind of scared to cut into it for fear of ruining it. I am pretty sure there is some pretty special grain sitting under that rough cut, but... I have never worked ash before.
> 
> Oh well, Andy Rooney (the commentator on 60 Minutes in the 70's and 80's) had over 1500 board feet of hardwood stacked in the racks of his shop for no other purpose than to go look at it once in a while. Maybe that is what this is for too?


treat it like oak..


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

I work with Ash quite a bit as well as hard maple. That is some really bad tear out you have in the maple. Try taking some very light cuts and run it threw the planer with the grain if you can. Investing in a carbide cutter for your planer will really help with tear-out.


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## sreilly (May 22, 2018)

Inor said:


> I have a great piece of ash sitting in my shop. It is 12/4 thick (rough sawn), about 10 inches wide and 10 feet long. I bought it because it was really cheap - about $30. I have no use in mind for it and frankly, am kind of scared to cut into it for fear of ruining it. I am pretty sure there is some pretty special grain sitting under that rough cut, but... I have never worked ash before.
> 
> Oh well, Andy Rooney (the commentator on 60 Minutes in the 70's and 80's) had over 1500 board feet of hardwood stacked in the racks of his shop for no other purpose than to go look at it once in a while. Maybe that is what this is for too?


Sounds like a fireplace mantle to me......just saying. Of course if you don't have a fireplace I could tell you how it looks and send pictures>


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## sreilly (May 22, 2018)

hawkeye10 said:


> I work with Ash quite a bit as well as hard maple. That is some really bad tear out you have in the maple. Try taking some very light cuts and run it threw the planer with the grain if you can. Investing in a carbide cutter for your planer will really help with tear-out.


When I first ran the board through the planner I saw that and immediately changed out the cutters for the carbide ones I bought last Christmas. I had been waiting for a sign that the HSS cutters were getting bad. This was a good enough reason to change them. Light passes at 1/64 - 1/32 in either direction yielded the same results so I figured I'd need to use the scraper to finish or a high angle plane. For now it's sitting on the partially dressed rack.


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## Wildwood (Aug 14, 2010)

I like Ash a lot - it was my wood of choice when I was commissioned to make a folding easel. I found an excellently detailed plan on line, as I had never made a folding easel before. The easel was delivered today.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

_All_ my scrap wood turns into ash...


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

Great find, Steve...

...and I think it's great that one can still find a piece of ash for thirty bucks...>


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## ger21 (Feb 10, 2019)

All the ash trees here died 5-10 years ago, courtesy of the Emerald Ash Borer.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

*Lip Zipped*



ger21 said:


> All the ash trees here died 5-10 years ago, courtesy of the Emerald Ash Borer.


Betcha I know what they call the little holes they bore... :surprise:


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## sreilly (May 22, 2018)

DaninVan said:


> Betcha I know what they call the little holes they bore... :surprise:


That's just funny, wrong but funny.........>


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

DaninVan said:


> Betcha I know what they call the little holes they bore... :surprise:


yur on a roll...


@sreilly...
your wood appears to be rift or flat sawn...
I'd be careful about wood movement and where you use it...

.


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> Betcha I know what they call the little holes they bore... :surprise:



Consider yourself "out of control"...appropriate supervision is on its way...


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Nickp said:


> Consider yourself "out of control"...appropriate supervision is on its way...


it's your turn Nick...

here's his sign..

.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

DaninVan said:


> _All_ my scrap wood turns into ash...





There is no scrap, only smaller pieces to work with.....:smile:


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

jw2170 said:


> There is no scrap, only smaller pieces to work with.....:smile:


yup...


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Most, ashuredly...


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## David Bradford (Sep 12, 2019)

sreilly said:


> I noticed those circular features in the maple and regardless of the feed direction on the planer it looks like they'll need the scraper.


I've always liked ash, I built all of my furniture out of it in the '80s. I'm more interested in the maple "circular features" you are talking about. Being new here I don't know if you don't know what that is for real or not. Its a light birdseye maple piece but I pay a fair amount of money to get pieces like that.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

David Bradford said:


> I've always liked ash, I built all of my furniture out of it in the '80s. I'm more interested in the maple "circular features" you are talking about. Being new here I don't know if you don't know what that is for real or not. Its a light Birdseye maple piece but I pay a fair amount of money to get pieces like that.


Birdseye Maple is not technically a distinct species of Maple, but rather, it’s a figure that’s occasionally found in Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple) trees but millers also find bird's eye figure in red maple, white ash, Cuban mahogany, American beech, black walnut, and yellow birch. Trees that grow in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States yield the greatest supply, along with some varieties in the Rocky Mountains. It’s name “Birdseye” sometimes simply written out as Bird’s Eye Maple because the figure resembles small bird’s eyes.
The birdseye figure is reportedly caused by unfavorable growing conditions for the tree. The Sugar Maple attempts to start numerous new buds to get more sunlight, but with poor growing conditions the new shoots are aborted, and afterward a number of tiny knots remain. Birdseye Maple is frequently sold in veneer form, but solid lumber is available as well. Being tiny knots, the birdseye figure is most noticeable and pronounced on flatsawn pieces of lumber.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

https://crlumber.com/birdseye-maple/


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## sreilly (May 22, 2018)

Interesting read Stick and good information. I wasn't aware of the explanation behind the birdseye figure term but was aware of what it was. And I did suspect that this is what I had here but was more surprised that is feels a bit rough after running it through the planer with the helical head cutters (new cutters) hence the scraper mentioned. I haven't done anything yet with it and it's sitting on the prepared wood shelf. I may end up resawing this board for making a box or two.....


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## roxanne562001 (Feb 5, 2012)

I made my coffee tables and end tables from Ash i love the look of it. I used to have a friend when I lived in Western NY who owned a saw mill. He used to call it the poor mans Oak. It works and looks allot like White Oak He gave me a bunch of Ash boards. Bad news is the Ash borer Beetle is killing off all the trees there now.


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