Using ash for furniture and casework

[George Neill]

Ash is one of my favourite furniture timbers. It's extremely resilient, works well and takes an excellent polish. I have used Ash for several pieces of furniture; a cricket table, a corner cabinet and a Windsor chair.

[Matt Meiser]

I've thought about it for our kitchen if we ever get around to going ahead with it. My wife wants oak, but from what I've seen staining it a shade or to darker will give the same effect at maybe $1+/bdft less.

[Matt Meiser]

At first glace I was wondering why Glenns's tables were in the same room as Jim's bed?

Ash works a lot like red oak. A good hardwood that behaves itself but, can be a bit fibrous depending on the source. In finishing I use non-pigmented oils or clear coats and let the nice figure show. If coloring is desired, dyes work best for me. It can be quite yellow so stay away from things with blue in them. I tried TransTint's Dark Mission Brown and it turned a dark green . . . creepy ;-) Reddish Browns worked better for me.

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I used it for the bed in the picture (19 layers in the lamination). No problems with splitting. Wonderful to work with and it's cheap relative to cherry or other common woods.
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