White Ash (Fraxinus americana)
General Information/History | Wood Identification | Working Properties | Uses in Woodworking | Cost & Availability
Good wood for great sport. Anyone who has ever dug a hole with a spade, gathered leaves with a rake, or chopped weeds with a hoe has touched white ash. The tough, resilient wood leads hickory for handles on nonstriking tools. Although white ash indeed classifies as utilitarian, it bests all woods in a sporting role. Wooden baseball bats (still the mainstay in pro leagues) have always been made of white ash. Before man-made fibers, it was also the wood of choice for tennis rackets and skis. You'll also find white ash as hockey sticks, polo mallets, oars and paddles, and playground equipment. Chairmakers also prefer white ash due to its bending ease. And its workability, plus good looks, make white ash one of the top commercial woods in the furniture and cabinet industries.
White ash (Fraxinus americana) grows from the East to the Midwest. Green ash and blue ash. Green ash and blue ash-with somewhat weaker wood-share the same range, and commercially, they're harvested and marketed together. Preferring the well-drained loam soil found in river valleys, white ash can grow to 120' tall and a diameter of 6' with nearly half the trunk height clear of branches. You won't find it in pure stands, though. Instead, the tree likes a mix of neighbors-hardwoods in the South, conifers in the North. The name "ash" may originally have come from the gray color of the tree's flat-ridged bark that's cross-hatched with diamond shapes. As does walnut, white ash produces leaves 8" to 12" long that are made up of five to nine lance-shaped leaflets, each about 5" long. Near the leaves hang the fruit of last year's growth-clusters of tan paddle-shaped wings with seed cases. White ash differs in color from black ash (often called brown ash), its cousin in the market. White ash looks lighter-although it's actually tan, not white. And even flat-sawn white ash can display bird's-eye, fiddle-back, and quilt-pattern figure.
The wood of white ash nearly matches hickory's rating in strength, stiffness, and hardness. Yet, at 41 pounds per cubic foot, cream-colored white ash is lighter and easier to work. Although somewhat course-textured, white ash generally has straight and even grain.
You can use white ash for any woodworking project that you would red oak: chairs, tables, desks, and cabinets. Although durable to exposure from the elements, it won't, however, weather as well as white oak in outdoor projects. Carvers and woodturners view white ash the same as red oak. Its hardness and coarse grain make it difficult to work.
Within white ash's natural range, dealers that stock hardwoods should carry an abundant supply of white ash at about $2.25 per board foot. And wide boards are usually available. Some dealers may even carry 3"-diameter bat blanks and furniture squares. Ash plywood costs about $60 per sheet in 3/4" thickness. You'll also find ash veneer, in sheets and as edge-banding, carried by cabinetmaking suppliers. From board to board, flat-sawn white ash can have some real wild grain. If that's not the look you like, you'll want to handpick for more subtle stuff. On the other hand, you can combine boards with figure, contrasting grain, and "defects" such as flecks from burrowing insect larvae (long deceased!), for eye-catching pieces. Once you have your white ash, remember that it is hard, so expect the wood to have a moderate blunting effect on your hand or power tools. For best results, plan on sharpening your tools before you begin, and then again during the project. With power tools, you may want to tackle white ash with carbide-tipped cutters. Otherwise, the following suggestions will help you work this wood.
