Need Advice on Finishing Ash

[NEATNCSTUFF]

Had a large Ash tree felled from my yard milled into live edge slabs, has a few scattered large beetle holes ( 3/8” ~ 1/2” ) which killed my tree, been air drying in my walk-in basement for 3 years. Any precautions/treatment for the beetle bore holes before finishing and any recommendations for stain / finish as I’ve never worked with Ash before.

 

[Wilsoncb]

Look for evidence of insect activity, sawdust new holes especially in the soft spots. If you have any doubts, probably need to try to kill them with heat. I believe you need the wood temperature to be at least 135 degrees. Some people will say they can be treated with Borax or something like that, but I just don’t see how that’s going to get through the a bug nest that is sealed off with mud. Professional kiln dried is best. If you try to do it on your own, just be careful not to get it too hot too fast or you will get cracking.

If the slabs are thicker than 6/4, check the moisture content as deep as you can. I had a 2-1/4” thick oak slab that appeared to be low moisture, but a year after I finished the table I still had shrinkage.

 

[Graywolf]

For kiln sanitation it’s 135 degrees internal temp for a period of time I think 72 hours but I’m not certain. Chemical treatments are Boracare or Tem-bor. depending on the thickness of your slab will determine the level of moisture internally. Personally I would stay with the natural color, what you are using the material for should determine the finish. Ash is a course grain wood and I would suggest filling the grain if you are using it as a table top.

 

[NEATNCSTUFF]

Look for evidence of insect activity, sawdust new holes especially in the soft spots. If you have any doubts, probably need to try to kill them with heat. I believe you need the wood temperature to be at least 135 degrees. Some people will say they can be treated with Borax or something like that, but I just don’t see how that’s going to get through the a bug nest that is sealed off with mud. Professional kiln dried is best. If you try to do it on your own, just be careful not to get it too hot too fast or you will get cracking.

If the slabs are thicker than 6/4, check the moisture content as deep as you can. I had a 2-1/4” thick oak slab that appeared to be low moisture, but a year after I finished the table I still had shrinkage.

Thanks

 

[NEATNCSTUFF]

For kiln sanitation it’s 135 degrees internal temp for a period of time I think 72 hours but I’m not certain. Chemical treatments are Boracare or Tem-bor. depending on the thickness of your slab will determine the level of moisture internally. Personally I would stay with the natural color, what you are using the material for should determine the finish. Ash is a course grain wood and I would suggest filling the grain if you are using it as a table top.

Thanks

 

[Rick Mainhart]

... and any recommendations for stain / finish as I’ve never worked with Ash before.

Good morning Jim,

I'm just finishing up a project using mostly ash and am happy to share the results with you (and the group).

This is a 15 x 20 x 1.25 charcuterie board our daughter requested. This is ash with walnut ribbons.

I sanded through the grits (100/180/220), then dampened the surface and let dry. I then did the final sanding at 320 using my random orbital sander and some hand sanding as necessary.

I used three coats of Tung Oil / Citrus Solvent (50/50 mix) hand rubbed over the course of 6 hours. Ash is thirsty!

Below is the board along with 6 matching coasters from the same blank.

The coasters have two coats of oil-based satin poly, again, hand rubbed with a lint free cloth.

This photo shows the board along with an unsanded, unfinished piece of the blank so you can compare the natural wood with the oil-based finishes.

I still need to apply some hard wax oil ... beeswax/mineral oil (50/50 mix) that I made up a while back. I found that heating the hard wax oil with my paint stripping gun to melt the wax makes applying to a large area much easier. Out of the can, it's the consistency of shoe polish (OLD shoe polish at that, just without the cracks!).


I hope this helps you with your finishing questions.

Good luck and regards,

Rick

 

[NEATNCSTUFF]

Thanks Rick, beautiful work ! The info on finishing is just what I was looking for.

 

[Oka]

Another approach to killing bugs is to ask one of the exterminators (or get to know one) if you can place the wood in a home they are tenting.
This also works. I have done this here in Hawaii, but tenting a home is pretty common here.