What are Y'alls experiences milling green ash? I cut 3 today. They had alot of taper and I wound up with quite a bit of wane where the log had random dips in it. The wood was purdy though. It was harder for my mill to cut than the post oak I have cut and the hackberry (Yep I am now up to a whole 3 species of woods cut woo hoo) I would have figured the post oak woulda been harder but the ash gummed the blade up and the oak didnt so that may be why. I will be cutting alot more of ash, there is probably 3 or 4 acres on a friends creek that he wants cut out, he was gonna get a bulldozer but is lettin me cut what I want first. There is mostly ash but several big hackberry, a few honey locust worth cutting and a elm or 2 that are quite big but after what I've heard I dont think I'll be cutting them. Well I was just wondering what y'all thought of milling ash and started rambling on. Sorry
Morgan
I sawed up some green ash two winters ago. Didn't give me too much trouble, but it was only two logs. I have a terrible time with sap on white ash, don't like sawing it too much. Maybe fresh it would be better. ???
Dave
I cut this right off the stump, soaking wet and sticky. It was'nt any trouble just wasnt as easy on my mill as the other 2, I had to take it slow and that was with a freshly sharpened blade.
Good supply of sharp blades and plenty of lube. Slow going, but nice looking lumber.
Keep it away from the bugs. Powder post love ash. I always say "like kids love candy at daycare". Try to get it moving and find a home for it. The spring is the cyclical hatch and then frass as they exit after laying the eggs. You have a full 10 months or so to get it moving.
Ironwood
I was going to use it to build a building to store my Lucas in. Not a good idea???
I love to saw ash, it is one of my favorites to mill. I have to sharpen a bit more often but I don't have to slow down any. It makes nice cabinets or flooring.
I've stored quite a bit of it in the garage with the fans on to dry and haven't had any trouble with bugs yet but I've heard you have to get it drying right away.
Dry it quickly as stated. If it were me, I would Borax it right off the bat.
Ironwood
Gums up the blade worse than any other hardwood for me...run the lube heavy to keep the sap off. Other than that it seems to saw maybe just a little slower than red oak. It also tends to yield a bigger percentage of high grade.
It does stain easily during drying...got some pictures of a load that I ruined and they ain't pretty.
I've made quite a few cabinets with the wood. If stained natural most people don't have any idea what it is and like it. Makes great wainscoting...especially with a touch of walnut.
Ironwood what kind of Borax are you using? If a home brew can you share the recipe? I want to dose some hickory in the near future.
About 50% of the wood that I cut up here is ash (mostly white). Almost every woodlot in southern Ontario has ash, and the owners know that they won't get much for it if they try to sell it, so they are cutting it for their own use before the emerald ash borer gets it. Lots of farmers are reinforcing their old barn floors so they can drive on them to put big bales in. I cut a lot of 8/4 planks for floors and just finished 2 days of cutting 8" timbers that are going into a barn.
I love cutting ash. You do need lots of lube and sharp blades as others have said, and ash tends to have more tension than some other kinds of wood. I think it is one of the most beautiful woods for flooring and furniture.
Tom
I really like the wood, it is good looking and from what I've read it is stout. I have gut Gobs of it for firewood before i got my mill, it cuts much easier and is easier on the chain than the oak I had cut so I was surprised that my mill cut oak better is all. I got my water valve half open on my lube and got about 1/4 cup pine sol in there but I dont think the lube on a swing blade works as well as the lube on a band blade. I am just tickled pink to be cutting my own boards, No more crummy home center lumber for me 8). I didnt realize just how crappy the no 2 graded lumber that they sell was till I got my mill ::).
I hate cutting ash firewood, I can really tell the difference. Never seems to cut good for me.
If the big box was closer, I'd hang out in the lumber aisle and slip business cards to the customers with sour looks on their faces. ;D
Dave
Dave, Ash is my absolute favorite firewood to cut and split, Bar none. All I have ever cut was green ash but for a po boy with a maul it sure is nice. The first time I split any of it I joked with my wife that i thought I could split it with a good round rock :). I dont know if its recional differances or what but I never had a lick of trouble with it. I have never cut any pine of any sort for any reason and I dont think I want to. The guy I bought my mill from had it used only on ponderosa pine and boy it took me forever to get all the stinkin sap off'n every thing on that mill. I thought it was just dusty at first but it werent, I guess I still aint got it all off but enough. there were big clumps of sawdust/sap in the shaving exahust that was the consistancy of old chewing gum you used to find under your desk @ school. Is all pine that messy or was the sawyer just a slob? Even the ash didnt spray sap all over the place, I havent had to do nothing but blow dry sawdust off it.
I cut quite a bit of ash on a circle mill. I find ash to be pretty easy to cut, but you can find logs that have quite a bit of tension.
Sap isn't really what the problem is. Its the acids that build up on the blade. We don't have any lube on our mills. Ash and white oak will cause a build up on the blade, with ash being the worst by far. My saw stays sharper sawing ash than it does in white oak.
My guess is if you can get your acid build up down, then you won't have as much problem with your sawing. I don't know if there is anything you can add to your lube to remove it. It isn't pitch, like in pine. I do know that a tulip poplar will clean that stuff PDQ. Tulip poplar sap also is a fair bug remover and will remove some other stuff. Planing poplar boards will clean you hands. So, there's something in there that will remove that acid build up. Getting it into your lube may be a different story.
Quote from: Ron Wenrich on May 23, 2008, 05:47:04 AM
I do know that a tulip poplar will clean that stuff PDQ. Tulip poplar sap also is a fair bug remover and will remove some other stuff. Planing poplar boards will clean you hands. So, there's something in there that will remove that acid build up. Getting it into your lube may be a different story.
Try soaking a piece of tulip poplar in a bucket of water and then use the water for your lube. Let me know if it works ;D
I don't think that would work. You can't get maple syrup from soaking boards, can you?
I have ways of collecting some sap when we saw it. It isn't in great quantities, but if anyone is interested, let me know. Sending it may be a problem
saw away guys, I like the stuff. :)
Ditto what Okie said about ash for firewood. My wood splitter is me & my maul ;)
How many different kinds of ash are there? Up here it's white ash and black ash. Black ash cuts easy like red oak and has a long narrow grain. The only other wood that I've run across that cuts as hard as white ash was 15 year old white oak with no bark that was dry. Steve
Green ash is similar to white, but I think white is slightly heavier. Green and black ash are swamp ashes around here. There is also a blue ash, which is rare in southern Ontario.
okie, I like to split it, but I don't like to cut it. Seems like the saw is always dull.
Dave
Yeah, aside from those big old white birch bolts we used to pickup on firewood permit on crown lands, ash splits very easy. Those big old white birch blocks split easy dry or green. OK for kitchen stove, but not for furnace wood. ;D