Fraxinus excelsior

European Ash

Pale, ring-porous hardwood with bold grain and the best steam-bending behaviour in Europe. Strong and tough, but strictly interior use.

Få besked, når den kommerReferencetræart. Ingen planker på lager lige nu.

Passer det til dit projekt?

Velegnet til

Steam-bent chair frames and stools
Dining tables and desks for interior use
Cabinetry doors and drawer fronts
Tool handles, sports equipment and shop fittings
Wall panelling and architectural millwork
Turned components and lighter-toned table legs

Ingen European Ash i det aktuelle parti

Lignende træarter på lager

Ingen European Ash lige nu. Disse træarter egner sig til de samme projekter og findes på lager.

Få besked om European Ash

Vi sender dig en e-mail, når nye planker i European Ash kommer til KORENA. Hver planke er unik, så det betaler sig at få besked tidligt.

Træets udseende

Sådan ser det ud

A pale hardwood with a creamy-white sapwood that blends into a light brown heartwood. Grain is straight and the texture coarse and uneven, with strong contrast between earlywood and latewood pores. Growth rings read clearly across a flat-sawn face, giving ash a bold, graphic look that suits modern furniture as much as traditional joinery. A lighter, more open-grained alternative to European oak, and a far cleaner, paler option than walnut.

Creamy white to pale straw sapwood
Light brown to olive-tinged heartwood
Bold dark latewood lines against pale earlywood
Mellows to a warmer honey tone with UV exposure
Bleaches well for very pale, Nordic-style surfaces
Straight grain, coarse uneven texture.

Bearbejdning

Works well with both hand and machine tools. Glues, screws and finishes predictably. Pre-drilling is sensible near edges given the density. Ash is one of the great steam-bending species, chair frames, tool handles and sports goods have relied on it for centuries, and it holds curves reliably once set. Sharp tooling matters: the coarse texture can tear out around knots and interlocked patches if blades are dull.

Overfladebehandling

Takes oils, hardwax, water-based and solvent finishes well. The open ring-porous structure benefits from grain filler if you want a glass-smooth surface, otherwise the texture stays visible and tactile. Stains evenly, but the porous earlywood drinks pigment faster than the dense latewood, which can exaggerate ring contrast. Test on offcuts before committing. Bleaches cleanly for very pale Scandinavian looks.

Tørring

Dries at a moderate rate with a moderate risk of checking and minor distortion. Tangential shrinkage is roughly 1.6 times radial, so quarter-sawn stock stays flatter in service. Acclimatise to the workshop for at least two weeks before machining, and condition again before final assembly in heated interiors.

Hvor meget bevæger det sig?

Træ udvider og trækker sig sammen på tværs af bredden, når luften bliver fugtigere og tørrere. Beregn den forventede sæsonbevægelse i en bordplade af European Ash, før du udformer beslagene.

Bordpladens bredde800 mm

Opskæring

Hvor den skal stå

Forventet sæsonbevægelse

ca. 9,7 mm

Fastgør bordpladen med sargklodser eller beslag med langhuller, ikke med lim eller stramme skruer.

Lineær svindmodel: bredde × (svind ÷ 28 % fibermætning) × sæsonudsving i fugtighed. Bruger 8,5 % tangentialt svind for European Ash. Et planlægningsskøn, ikke en garanti.

Hvad det koster

Sikkerhed og indkøb

Ash dust is a documented respiratory and skin sensitiser. Repeated exposure can trigger asthma-like symptoms and dermatitis in sensitive individuals. Use a P2/P3 mask, dust extraction at the tool, and long sleeves when sanding or routing. The wood itself is food-contact safe once cured and finished appropriately.

Læs hele guidenDybdegående noter om tegning, farveændring, bearbejdning og stabilitet.

What European Ash actually is#

Fraxinus excelsior is the tough one. At 6,580 N on the Janka scale it is harder than European oak by a third, and it combines that hardness with an elasticity that lets it absorb impact and spring back rather than splitting.

That combination is why ash became the handle wood of Europe. Hammer and axe handles, oars, hurleys, tennis racquets, cart frames and early aircraft structures were all ash, and the reason is a property that no single number captures: shock resistance.

The dieback situation#

Ash is the only species in this catalogue carrying an elevated IUCN status. It is assessed as Near Threatened, and the cause is Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, the fungus behind ash dieback, which has spread across Europe since the 1990s and killed a very large proportion of the standing population.

For a buyer today the effect is counterintuitive. Salvage felling has pushed volumes up and prices down, so ash is currently good value and widely available. The uncertainty is in the coming decades rather than this year.

The disease affects the living tree. Sound timber cut from an affected tree is sound timber, and there is no quality penalty in buying salvage ash provided it was converted and dried properly rather than left standing dead and allowed to spalt.

Reading an ash slab

Spørgsmål fra købere

Det spørger købere om

Is ash affected by ash dieback, and does that matter for slabs?

Yes. Hymenoscyphus fraxineus has spread across Europe since the 1990s and the IUCN now assesses Fraxinus excelsior as Near Threatened, the only species in this catalogue with an elevated status. For buyers the practical effect is a lot of salvage felling: volumes are currently high and prices soft, but supply over the coming decades is uncertain. The disease affects the living tree, not the quality of sound timber cut from it.

Why is ash used for tool handles?

Shock resistance. Ash combines high hardness at 6,580 N with elasticity, so it absorbs impact and returns rather than splitting or shattering. That combination is why it has been the standard timber for hammer and axe handles, oars, hurleys and sports equipment for centuries, and why it steam bends so well.

Can ash be used outdoors?

No, not untreated. It is rated decay class 5, perishable, which is the lowest durability of any hardwood in this catalogue and a surprise given how tough it is mechanically. Strength and durability are unrelated properties. For exterior work choose oak, robinia or sweet chestnut.

What is olive ash?

Mekaniske egenskaber

Tekniske data

Offentliggjorte referenceværdier. Når kilderne er uenige, vises intervallet, og den typiske værdi bruges til skalaerne ovenfor.

Tangentialt svind
Massefylde (kg/m³)	620–740 kg/m³typisk 680 kg/m³
Janka-hårdhed (N)	6,200–7,000 Ntypisk 6.580 N
MOR: brudmodul (MPa)	105–130 MPa
MOE: elasticitetsmodul (GPa)	11.5–13.5 GPa
Radialt svind	4.5–6.0 %

Native across Europe from Ireland east to the Volga, north into southern Scandinavia and south into the Mediterranean uplands. Grows in mixed broadleaf forests on moist, fertile soils, often alongside oak and beech. KORENA sources from managed European forests where stand health allows responsible harvesting.

European Ash is reassessed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List because of ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus), a fungal disease moving across Europe since the 1990s and killing a significant share of standing ash. Paradoxically this means salvage and sanitation harvests are common, and well-managed sourcing can use timber that would otherwise be lost. KORENA sources ash from forests with documented health assessments and chain-of-custody. EUDR due diligence is in preparation and becomes mandatory for large operators from 30 December 2026, and the slab passport is built to carry the legality and dieback context. No CITES listing.

Most ash is pale, near white to light biscuit, with a coarse ring porous texture that reads similarly to oak but without the ray fleck.

The exception is olive ash: darker brown and olive streaked heartwood that develops in some older trees, giving dramatic contrast against the pale background. It is the same species rather than a different one, and because most ash is uniformly pale, olive ash carries a premium and is sought for tabletops.

The grain is usually straight, which is part of why it bends and machines so predictably.

The durability trap#

Ash is mechanically formidable and biologically feeble. It is rated decay class 5, perishable, the lowest durability of any hardwood here.

That surprises people, because toughness feels like it should mean longevity. It does not. Strength and decay resistance are unrelated properties, governed by different things: cell wall structure on one hand, extractive chemistry on the other. Ash has excellent structure and almost no protective extractives.

Untreated ash outdoors will fail quickly. For exterior work, oak at decay class 2, sweet chestnut at 2, or robinia at 1 are the species in this catalogue that belong there.

Ash works cleanly with hand and machine tools and finishes well. It steam bends excellently, as its history suggests, and it glues and takes fastenings reliably.

At 6,580 N it is hard, so tooling blunts faster than on oak and the wood asks for power in the cut. The coarse open pores need filling for a smooth surface.

The straight grain means less tear-out than oak, which makes wide ash surfaces comparatively easy to machine flat.

Volumetric shrinkage of 14.5 percent is high and the tangential to radial differential of 7.5 against 4.5 percent is wide, so flatsawn boards cup.

Ash also has a working reputation for moving more in service than its figures predict. Whether that is the wood or the fact that ash is often used in thin sections is arguable, but the practical response is the same: acclimatise fully, let tops float on slotted fasteners, and do not fix a wide ash panel rigidly.

Where ash is the right answer#

Anywhere impact and flex matter. Chair frames, steam bent components, tool handles, sports equipment, and tabletops where the pale colour or the olive figure is wanted. It is currently among the best value hardwoods in Europe.

It is the wrong answer outdoors in any form, and wrong where dimensional stability is the governing requirement.

Not CITES listed. Assessed as Near Threatened by the IUCN, which is worth stating plainly to buyers rather than leaving in a data table, and the reason is disease rather than over-harvesting. European supply is currently abundant through salvage felling and documentation is straightforward.

The darker streaked heartwood that develops in some older ash trees, producing brown and olive figuring against the pale background. It is the same species, not a separate one, and it is prized for tabletops because the contrast is dramatic. Most ash is uniformly pale, so olive ash commands a premium.

How much does it move?

Volumetric shrinkage of 14.5 percent is on the high side, with tangential at 7.5 percent against radial at 4.5 percent. That is a wide differential, so flatsawn boards cup. Ash also has a reputation for moving in service more than the numbers alone suggest, so let a slab acclimatise fully and allow a top to float.

Volumetrisk svind	14.5–16.0 %

Naturlig holdbarhed (EN 350)	Class 5 — Perishable

Kilder

The Wood Database(tilgået 2026-05-09)
USDA FPL Wood Handbook FPL-GTR-190 (2010)(tilgået 2026-05-09)
Meier, E. — WOOD! Identifying and Using Hundreds of Woods Worldwide (2015)(tilgået 2026-05-09)

Kort fortalt

HårdhedHårdt

Janka-hårdhed 6.580 N

32 % hårdere end europæisk eg

VægtTung

680 kg/m³

StabilitetBevæger sig meget

15,3 % volumetrisk svind

BearbejdningLet

4,0 / 5 i gennemsnit ved høvlebænken

Udendørs brugKun indendørs

EN 350-klasse 5

Let at arbejde med ved høvlebænken og ikke så hårdt, at det slider værktøjet voldsomt.

Tryk på en etiket for detaljer.

Det koster European Ash-tømmer i Europa lige nu pr. kubikmeter før moms. Tryk på en pris for at se detaljerne.

Bedste kævler på auktion efter land

Almindelige kævler efter land

Hvorfor koster en planke mere end dette?

Dette er priser på råt tømmer. En planke er det bedste snit af en kævle, tørret i et år eller mere og derefter kontrolleret og målt styk for styk. Kun en lille del af hver kævle bliver til en planke.

Kilde: KORENA Timber Index · Seneste data 24. sep. 2026

Se alle regionale priser