Another Ash Bookcase!

[Woodbloke]

A few months ago I did a Krenov style wall mounted bookcase in kiln dried American Ash...

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=5376&hilit=+Ash+bookcase

...and made a solemn vow to all the woodmangling gods that I would never, ever, under any circumstances use this foul wood again. It planes quite well; no problem there, but cutting half-respectable joinery in it would try the patience of Job as the late wood rings are like cast iron :evil:

However yesterday, we visited No.1 son and his better half, the lovely Emz, who quite liked the original when I posted something on InstaG. When I mentioned in passing that I had one remaining board....



...and did’t know what to do with it (apart from burning :twisted: ) I suggested that she might like a wall mounted bookcase for her home office, similar to the one I made a while back. The result was a big, beaming smile, so that’s obviously another project to be added to the tuit list.

This afternoon then, I decided to extract the board and mill it up roughly into the component parts:



Prior to hacking off one end to make the vertical sides and then after copious deep sawings...



...on the big Ax bandsaw and thence onto the p/t, I now have a few boards (inc the drawer front) planed slightly over size by a couple of mm on all sides which will now go into ‘resting’ mode for a couple of weeks before I do anything else to it...rough size will be 1m x 190 x 400mm - Rob

 

[AndyT]

Judging by progress so far, that ash looks lovely and I think people might start to think that even "impossible" wood is no longer any challenge for you!

 

[9fingers]

I used Ash for all our lounge furniture when I made the barrister bookcases and other items in the same style.









Even some of the Cintique pre-loved seating we bought and I stripped and re-stained to match turned out to be ash under the opaque factory lacquer.

 

[Woodbloke]

Judging by progress so far, that ash looks lovely and I think people might start to think that even "impossible" wood is no longer any challenge for you!

It is nice stuff Andy, apart from when you need to do some hand cut joinery in it and then it’s bloody horrible :evil: I’m aslo going to have to do some more carving it, which I’m unquestionably not looking forward to. One of it’s redeeming aspects though is that it’s also relatively inexpensive. That 50mm thick board is (or was) only about 33 spondulicks.

Bob - I seem to recollect cutting the veneers for that coffee table a couple of years ago? - Rob

 

[9fingers]

Bob - I seem to recollect cutting the veneers for that coffee table a couple of years ago? - Rob

Indeed you did Rob - apologies for the hijack but it was sort of on topic :lol:

I really like the figuring in the Ash even though I've used oak stain. The current dining room projects are in oak to be different and it's really plain in comparison but I did not want everything I'm making in the furniture line to be all the same timber.

Bob

 

[Woodbloke]

Bob - I seem to recollect cutting the veneers for that coffee table a couple of years ago? - Rob

Indeed you did Rob - apologies for the hijack but it was sort of on topic :lol:

I really like the figuring in the Ash even though I've used oak stain. The current dining room projects are in oak to be different and it's really plain in comparison but I did not want everything I'm making in the furniture line to be all the same timber.

Bob

No problem whatsoever Bob, always interesting to see what’s going on. I agree as well about making stuff in different timbers; adds a bit of variety. Oak, as you say, can be very plain; I bought some air dried stuff recently with little swirls and pips in places which makes it a lot more interesting - Rob

 

[Cabinetman]

Looking good up to now Rob, I’m glad to hear that you are putting them to one side for a short while after cutting them in half like that. I really like Am/ Ash and I’m a little perplexed as to why you find it difficult to work with, perhaps you had a bad batch?
I built my bed from it it’s the one with a sloping headboard that I WIP'd on here, I intersperse lines of Mahogany with the Ash and it’s a beautiful contrast. Ian

 

[Argus]

Rob,
Those bookcases have a mellow colour finish.... I tend to go straight on to American Ash with a few wipes of clear Danish Oil, and they come out lighter than yours.

May I ask, how did you do it?

 

[Woodbloke]

Looking good up to now Rob, I’m glad to hear that you are putting them to one side for a short while after cutting them in half like that. I really like Am/ Ash and I’m a little perplexed as to why you find it difficult to work with, perhaps you had a bad batch?

I’ve been doing this woodmangling lark since the early 70’s and it’s always, but always something that should be done. As I’ve been at some pains to explain, the timber has been kilned to the point where all the life has been sucked out of it and as a consequence, the late annual rings are like cast iron. It planes nicely but chopping out by hand the fancy exposed dovetails on the first bookcase was a nightmare and doing any carving in it was equally horrible. If you use this stuff for work where’s there’s no hand cut jointing, I suspect it would be fine. Contrast it though to this...



...English air dried board (now conditioning at the back of the lathe) that I bought a few days ago. It was so large that if had to be chopped into three and I have them all. That board is 700mm wide (with sap removed, so all heart) with no defects of any sort and all three are similar. I did a blanket chest a couple of years ago in air dried English Ash and it was simply delightful to work with, so I won’t be buying any more of that ‘murrican rubbish from Yandles - Rob

 

[9fingers]

Rob,
Those bookcases have a mellow colour finish.... I tend to go straight on to American Ash with a few wipes of clear Danish Oil, and they come out lighter than yours.

May I ask, how did you do it?

Hi Argus, were you asking about my finishing process?

I used Rustins medium oak spirit stain and my variant of sam maloof's mixture
2parts satin pu varnish and 1 part white spirit. Typically 3 coats with the finest denib with "blunt" 400 grit paper.
wax applied with 0000 wirewool and buffed by hand.
I find this gives adequate protection for everyday use but no sign of a high build layer that you get from most PU or HWO products which I dislike with a passion.

HTH
Bob

 

[Argus]

Thanks, Bob, that finish makes perfect sense.
.............sorry, I was getting names a bit mixed up - getting too old!

 

[thetyreman]

ey up rob, if you got any spare offcuts of the air dried stuff I'd pay you lovely job as usual, I've had similar problems with kiln dried american white oak, it can feel like cutting into steel and requires very frequent sharpening.