American Ash
Description
● American Ash is similar in appearance to European ash.
● The sapwood is light colored to nearly white and the heartwood varies from greyish brown to light brown, to pale yellow streaked with brown.
● The wood is generally straight grained with a coarse uniform texture.
● The degree and availability of light colored sapwood, and other properties, will vary according to the growing regions. For Example, Southern ash lumber will be faster grown and contain more sapwood and therefore, a higher percentage of white colour, but compared to the Northern ash, it has a more open texture and grain.
Distribution & Availability
Distributed throughout Eastern USA. Good availabilty as lumber and veneer. The lumber is often classified according to growing regions and marketed as Northern ash and Southern ash. It is sometimes seperated for colour and sold as white ash (sapwood) or brown ash (heartwood). American ash can compromise a number of commercial sub species and is available in a wide range of grades and specifications as lumber and veneer. Note that white ash is the commercial name for Fraxinus americana.Durability
Non-resistant to heartwood decay. The heartwood is moderately is resistent to preservative treatment, and the sapwood is permeable.Working Properties
Ash machines well, is good in nailing, screwing and gluing, and can be stained and polished to a very good finish. It dries fairly easily with minimal degrade, and good stability means there is little movement in performance.
| Poor | Fair | Good | Excellent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sawing | ||||
| Planing | ||||
| Drilling | ||||
| Boring | ||||
| Turning | ||||
| Carving | ||||
| Moduling | ||||
| Nailing | ||||
| Screwing | ||||
| Gluing | ||||
| Finishing |
Main Uses
Furniture, flooring, doors, architectural interiors, high class joinery and moulding, kitchen cabinets, panelling, tool handles, sports goods and turning. A versatile, good-looking wood, offering great value for a wide range of joinery and furniture applications.
| End Use applications | Main Uses |
|---|---|
| Doors | ✔ |
| Flooring | ✔ |
| Furniture | ✔ |
| Joinery | ✔ |
| Kitchen Cabinets | ✔ |
| Modulings and turnings | ✔ |
| Veneered Panels | ✔ |
| Sports Goods | ✔ |
| Tool Handles | ✔ |
Physical & Mechanical Properties
Ash has very good overall strength properties relative to its weight. It has excellent shock resistance and is good for steam bending. Additional strength information is available in the AHEFC publication Structural design in American hardwoods.
| Specific Gravity (12% MC) | 0.60 |
| Average Weight (12% MC) | 673 Kg/m3 |
| Average volumetric shrinkage (Green to 6% MC) | 6.2% |
| Modulus of Rupture | 103.425 MPa |
| Modulus of Elasticity | 11,997 MPa |
| Compressive strength (parallel to grain) | 51.092 MPa |
| Hardness | 5871 N |