White ash: the most commercial of all native ashes.

Playing baseball. Walking in the rain. Ash is one of those woods that has an immediate recognition for its uses - baseball bats and other sporting goods. It is fine grained, tough, yet elastic, making it a natural choice for bats, skis, oars, and also for shovel and rake handles. It is also ideal for bending such items as umbrella handles and bent furniture.

White ash is the largest and most common of the ashes in the United States, as well as the most commercially valuable. There are roughly 16 ashes native to the United States, with most growing in the eastern states.

Ash is a member of the Olive Family. The terms "tough" and "soft" ash stem from a marketing view of the lumber. The so-called tough ash is sold for the end uses of sporting goods and tool handles while the grades of soft ash are sold for furniture and joinery.

Ash and glass worms

Ash is a great wood to cut, said Dave Mathers, president of Thiesing Veneer Co. in Mooresville, Ind., a custom veneer company. "Ash cuts very smooth and doesn't present as many problems as other woods such as oak, which can cut rough," he said. Mathers added, however, that demand has been somewhat low for the wood.

"Ash is a pretty wood, although the trees have been bothered in some areas of the country by the glass worm, which creates a defect in the wood." The glass worm attacks the ash trees and leaves, not an open hole, but a path of sorts - hence the name glass worm.

Don Steffey, export sales manager for International Veneer Co. Inc., of Southhill, Va., said his company gets most of its ash supplies from northern Virginia and southern West Virginia, where there is less damage from glass worms. "Most people want to avoid wood with glass worm, but some of it is sold for uses such as paneling," Steffey said. Glass worm, he added, sometimes affects other trees such as maple.

Popularity in Europe

Ash has had its share of popularity in Europe, particularly 1993 through 1995. However, Steffey said that exports of ash to Europe have dropped by two-thirds this year, a development that may be due to many factors. For one, Europeans have switched from American ash to European beech. As the popularity of American ash increased, the price of logs also increased, which may account for the switch to other light colored woods.

Steffey said ash remains an attractive wood that is easy to work and already, as the price has dropped, he is seeing an increase in European interest. "Sometimes these things are just cyclical," he said. "Ash is very easy to work, it takes a stain well and you can make it look like whatever you want with different stains. It can be stained to look like oak, for example."

Steffey said European ash is similar to American ash, but the supplies are much smaller. Also, the wood is generally not as "clean or light in color as American ash," Steffey said.

Other ashes

In addition to white ash or American ash, the other native ashes of importance are Fraxinus pennsylvanica, or green ash, and Fraxinus nigra, which is called black ash and brown ash. In some European markets, the three species are sold under the name American ash, but in the United States most tend to separate the woods.

While many in the industry prize old-growth woods, second-growth commercial ash is considered superior. It is heavy, strong, hard, stiff and has a high resistance to shock. "The Wood Handbook," published by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory, explains why the younger trees are more commercially valuable. "Heartwood of commercial white ash is brown; the sapwood is light colored or nearly white. Second-growth trees have a large proportion of sapwood. Old-growth trees which characteristically have little sapwood, are scarce."

Other native ashes include Fraxinus quadrangulata or blue ash and Fraxinus profunda, pumpkin ash, both from the eastern region of the United States.

Oregon ash or Fraxinus latifolia comes from the Pacific coast. It has slightly. lower strength properties than white ash, but in the Pacific Northwest it is used for many of American ashes uses. Black ash and pumpkin ash are considered to produce wood that is lighter than white ash.

European ash comes from the species Fraxinus excelsior. Its commercial names include English ash, French ash, Polish ash, Slavonian ash, etc. depending where the trees grow. Its weight varies tremendously from 32 pounds per cubic foot to 51 pounds per cubic foot.

Japanese ash is a related species, Fraxinus mandschurica, also of the Olive Family. This tree grows in Southeast Asia. It too is used widely for sporting goods. Tamo is the name for highly figured Japanese ash.

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Family Name

Fraxinus americana of the Family Oleaceae

Other Names

American ash, white ash

Height/Weight

The tree can grow as tall as 120 feet but averages heights of 70 to 80 feet. Trunk diameters average 3 feet. Average weight is 41 to 43 pounds per cubic foot.

Properties

The wood has excellent strength and elasticity. It is tough, stiff and hard, plus is high in shock resistance with excellent bending qualities and above-average workability. The timber dries rapidly, with little degrade and small movement in service. Ash has a moderate blunting effect on tools, but is easily worked with both hand and machine tools.