Ash for stocks

[navygunner]

I know that curly maple seems the norm for long rifles and birch seems to have been used quite abit  in Europe at least on military muskets, I've seen a few ash stocked rifles that looked sharp. Any thoughts,

NG

[Acer Saccharum]

Yep, ash is a good stock wood. I'd use it on a utilitarian piece without a lot of carving detail, as it's got a lot of contrast between growth rings.

That said, Chris Laubach made a stunning carved ash-stocked gun.

[J Henry]

  I like to first use black/dark stain on Ash then sand it back to bring out the grain patterns, then over stain it with the final color,working to get the image I want then seal it. Not PC/HC, but I like it.

[Virginiarifleman]

Curly Ash looks Great on Longrifles. Tough HardWood.

[Kermit]

Any update on the emerald ash borer from you folks in ash country?

[WadePatton]

Any update on the emerald ash borer from you folks in ash country?

About 1/2 the Ash we cut and sold last year was affected.  Local forestry dept said "cut all your Ash of marketable size".  So we cut the Ash "closer" than anything else.

I don't normally cut any green wood for firewood, but will be in the woods soon and will notice Ash damage. 


As for stockwood, it gets mixed reviews, some claim they'll never use it again.  Most folks like the looks once it's done.  It basically looks like Red Oak, but has the proper toughness/density for stockwood.  Extreme density variation makes it somewhat challenging I am told.

SO i have a curly Ash blank to be whittled upon very soon.  Utilitarian for sure.  TN with maybe a patchbox--that's it.

[ken]

Ash makes a real nice gun and very sturdy. Nice to work with but hard . You have to keep the tools sharp. I have built two and they both came pretty nice .  ken

[Stophel]

I have made myself a pistol (still unfinished... like so many other projects the past few years) and stocked it in ash.  It is very interesting wood.  Has good points and bad points.  One surprising thing is how it cuts.  It will cut VERY cleanly, even cutting into the grain!!!  Usually, when inletting a gun barrel, the bottom of the channel at the very breech end gets kinda rough.  No matter how sharp my chisels, it's still hard to cut back into the grain without it digging in and hogging out chunks (the grain will be angled here so that I can get at least some grain running all the way through the wrist of the gun) .  Not so with ash.  I was amazed.  The cleanest barrel breech inlet I ever done.  Perfectly smooth with ZERO digging into the angled grain.  On the other hand, my lock inletting doesn't look so good in the bottom.  The porous rings are weak, and there's just nothing there and it just collapsed under my chisels.  It's fine, though, just not pretty.  For the same reason, you have to be very careful in the final shaping/smoothing of the surface, since whatever tool you use will want to hog out the porous grain and make creases in the stock surface.  Another problem I encountered, due to the porous rings, was that my front barrel tenon was real close to the muzzle and real close to the rod pipe tenon.  AND there is a nearly perfectly vertical porous ring layer dead center right down the stock where the tenons are.  POP.  Ok, no problem.  I glued it back together and also, just behind the muzzle, inletted in a strip of straight grain walnut wood that I bent into a curve to fit the barrel, fitted well, and glued in place to hold the fore end together (kinda like they used to do with those thin Browning shotgun fore ends).  It seems pretty solid now.

I've practiced a little carving on ash, and actually, I find that it carves quite beautifully.  You do have to be careful with the rings, of course.  Keep the carving relatively simple, and it will really look good.  The rings can visually interrupt the carving, but if the grain of the stock is properly filled, there will be no pores showing.  

I have an ash blank here that I've had for years.  The butt end is from near the root of the tree, has a natural curve and is quite curly.  I've actually been afraid to cut into it!  

[Tom Currie]

The Emerald Ash Borer in SE Michigan sort of came through like a wave in my opinion. I can't speak for evrywhere but in the locations I frequent the Ash trees are dead and on the ground.... however the Ash is resilent and saplings are popping up everywhere there were mature tress. I am sort of hoping the wave of Ash Borers sort of plays out with the wave of destruction of mature tress and the saplings have a chance.  There was also a very increased population of Red Bellied Woodpeckers on the attack during the years of highest investation here. Nature's balance.

I believe the Ash Borer came on un treated palletts from China. SE Michigan was sort of the epicenter. 

[PPatch]

I wouldn't hesitate to do another Ash stock. Dan's remarks were dead on about the porous ring problem, but you get used to dealing with that pretty quick. What you'll have are alternating weak rings (porous spring growth) with dense hard rings. Also ash wants to split more than other woods I've dealt with if you are chiseling or cutting with the grain. Easy does it. As always sharp tools are a must.

Ash stocked mountain style rifle:











http://i.imgur.com/M9Ky2BV.jpg

Stock taken to 320 grit, aqua fortis'd then LMF Maple stain. Beeswax finish.

dp

[WadePatton]

I wouldn't hesitate to do another Ash stock. Dan's remarks ...

Stock taken to 320 grit, aqua fortis'd then LMF Maple stain. Beeswax finish.

dp

Thanks for the inspiration (quit teasing me).  Dan who?  (now i tease you--yes the avatar tonality threw me as well).

Thanks for the details too.  Get this iron bed done and then that repeater gun (not mine) and then I begin (with a piece of Ash for those who possibly missed my relevant yammerings).

[M Tornichio]

I have only made 1 rifle so far with Ash wood. I really liked the wood. It was difficult to work because of two issues. 1. it is very dense compared to maple in general and so you have to keep your tools very sharp. 2 the soft summer wood rings can cause problems because you can get some ugly dips in the surface if you are not careful. Overall I think the curly stuff is pretty.
Marc

[WadePatton]

I have only made 1 rifle so far with Ash wood. I really liked the wood. It was difficult to work because of two issues. 1. it is very dense compared to maple in general and so you have to keep your tools very sharp. 2 the soft summer wood rings can cause problems because you can get some ugly dips in the surface if you are not careful. Overall I think the curly stuff is pretty.
Marc

Another splendid example!  thanks for sharing.

[D. Bowman]

Here's another stocked in curly ash

[jamesthomas]

Here's another stocked in curly ash

 That's just beautiful! Thanks for showing us.