Gotta love milling ash.

MReinemann · November 03, 2012, 07:05:10 PM

Milled up some ash 4x8's today for my new 12x24 shed that's in the works. Gotta love the stress in those logs. Have a ton of them on my property so figured I'd use them for as much as I can before the emerald ash borer arrives. Here's some pics.
-Matt

POSTON WIDEHEAD · November 03, 2012, 07:16:50 PM

Nice lumber Matt!

barbender · November 04, 2012, 01:00:06 AM

Is that green ash? I've found black ash to.saw quite nicely, but the green ash has been a pain. Lots of tension, it is very dry so the dust is gnarly, and I got lots of waves too. The black ash in the same pile sawed great.

WH_Conley · November 04, 2012, 01:11:58 AM

Those weren't bad at all. As a suggestion, take side lumber from 2 sides and get a "column" from the center of the log. You only have to deal with stress from one direction when you are building that way. Shouldn't lose but one timber per log, but, straighter timbers.

Al_Smith · November 04, 2012, 05:14:24 AM

Well hopefully some miracle stops the borer before it gets you .If it does though those ash can stand dead a long while and you can still mill them although they'll get drier than a popcorn fart .

Meadows Miller · November 04, 2012, 06:00:50 AM

Gday

They dont look that bad to me Matt ;) ;D 8) you should come down and try sawing some of our Hardwoods Mate

;) :D :D if you realy want dead strait timbers you cant avoid over cutting and resizing those you would have got away with cutting 9 or 10x8"s splitting it up the guts then face cutting and finish sizing ;) that is a nice looking mill you have there I like the lil 35s Mate ;) ;D 8)

Regards Chris

SwampDonkey · November 04, 2012, 07:08:57 AM

I've found that some ash will twist a bit when air drying, mostly the thick stuff. For sure if it's got knots.

Al_Smith · November 04, 2012, 07:20:07 AM

Depends on the log I suppose .Actually I've got some fairly straight stuff I've been using for projects within the house .It's one inch stuff though and just air dried for 6-7 years .

On planks you can often rip them and get the warp out but you can't do much about the twist .On heavy timbers I have no idea what to do with them .Really though how many old barns have straight timbers in them ? Not many if any .

MReinemann · November 04, 2012, 07:59:09 AM

Quote from: barbender on November 04, 2012, 01:00:06 AM
Is that green ash? I've found black ash to.saw quite nicely, but the green ash has been a pain. Lots of tension, it is very dry so the dust is gnarly, and I got lots of waves too. The black ash in the same pile sawed great.

Not sure what the difference between green and black is. This will saw good as long as you keep spinning the cant to relieve the tension while your cutting. The pics I took were of 2 8x8x16's that I had cut 2 weeks ago that I ripped into 4x8's. The saw dust is very fine gets all over when the wind's blowing, eye's, cell phone, coffee, you guys know the deal.

SwampDonkey · November 04, 2012, 10:50:14 AM

Black ash is less dense and less hard and holds more water (green) than green or white ash for starters. Up here black ash is for pulp and baskets.

MReinemann · November 04, 2012, 06:19:54 PM

Quote from: SwampDonkey on November 04, 2012, 10:50:14 AM
Black ash is less dense and less hard and holds more water (green) than green or white ash for starters. Up here black ash is for pulp and baskets.

Thanks for the info. Based off that gonna say this is white ash I think. Heart wood is brown the rest is white.
-Matt

SwampDonkey · November 04, 2012, 06:33:26 PM

The black ash we have is in swamps and it usually has pools of water on the ground, imperfect and poorly drained soil.

Jeff · November 04, 2012, 07:13:02 PM

I've seem straight grained, straight 8 and 10 foot ash logs at the mill where I used to work, bust open in 4 complete and separate quarters when they spent to much time in the sun at our west mill where there was a concrete log yard. Logs you never would dream have stress in them looking like a banana peel.

SwampDonkey · November 04, 2012, 07:19:48 PM

Yeah thick yellow birch can be finnicky to. Seen it twist bad air drying.

samandothers · November 04, 2012, 07:33:53 PM

Tell me about your drying rack. Why the gravel underneath? Also I notice drips on the gravel under the beams your lumber is drying on. What is that?

5quarter · November 04, 2012, 08:05:17 PM

samandothers...I think he may be laying out his new shed there on the gravel... ;)

Al_Smith · November 04, 2012, 08:16:30 PM

I like the stuff myself .It air dries real easily .Fairly easy to work,takes stain well .They used to call ash the poor mans oak .Quarter sawn it gets those flecks similar to oak .Plus any scraps you have left over is real good firewood .

SwampDonkey · November 05, 2012, 03:56:48 AM

I to like ash lumber, won't refuse it for a second unless it's full of defect or something. However, I've yet to see the proverbial ray fleck in ash and I've handled lots. The ray wood is so minute that you can not really see it without a hand lens on the end grain. You need distinct rays to see fleck. In maple and sycamore you get fleck, you can see the rays to without a lens. Keyword being "conspicuous". ;)

Al_Smith · November 05, 2012, 04:08:48 AM

Oh now I suppose I have to take a picture . :D

SwampDonkey · November 05, 2012, 04:13:00 AM

Yup, along with the end grain shot to. I'd like to see it. One reason is I have a 200 year old spinning wheel here that I assumed was not ash on the wheel because I could see rays by eye, but they where hair width. Any ash I have you can't even see them that wide and I have some 25 ring to the inch ash.

SwampDonkey · November 05, 2012, 04:20:11 AM

https://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-272-W.pdf

read ;)

bandmiller2 · November 05, 2012, 08:05:58 AM

A little ash never hurt anyone.Thats just the nature of the critter.For building crown up.If you really need it straight cut well oversize and dry then recut straight.Usally just put it up and DanG the bend. Frank C.

Al_Smith · November 05, 2012, 08:10:07 AM

:D Oh allright already .The things I do .Down on a tile floor taking pictures of a piece of base trim so early in the morning .I dunno ,looks like flecks .It isn't saw marks because it was bandsawn and planed to 5/8" .That praticular board was dead center cut .One of only a few I had .

I couldn't get a good grain shot ,sorry but it's probabley 20-25 rings per inch .The other stuff ,valance and mantle are stuff I made from ash .

beenthere · November 05, 2012, 08:52:46 AM

Quote from: Al_Smith on November 04, 2012, 08:16:30 PM
I like the stuff myself .It air dries real easily .Fairly easy to work,takes stain well .They used to call ash the poor mans oak .Quarter sawn it gets those flecks similar to oak .Plus any scraps you have left over is real good firewood .

We don't see any quarter sawn ash in the pics. Flat sawn we see. Ray fleck will be on the radial face of quarter sawn.

Al_Smith · November 05, 2012, 09:22:26 AM

Okay then exactly what would you call a dead center cut if it's not considered quarter sawn .What exactly are those things in that base moldings then? Okay maybe it's a freak of nature but it is ash and it looks like flecks .

I didn't put them there by some creative method of staining although it would be neat to able to ;).That piece of base is exactly how it came out of the planer after a little bit of sanding and stain .

Now the rest of the stuff ,except some of the trim on the mantle is plane sawn .The short sections of trim are taken from another center cut .You can notice the grain diff if you look real good .