Fraxinus excelsior
Europäische Esche
Pale, ring-porous hardwood with bold grain and the best steam-bending behaviour in Europe. Strong and tough, but strictly interior use.
- This species is recorded as commercially grown in Europe. This does not establish where an individual piece was harvested; check its origin details.
- Botanische Gruppe. Nadelhölzer sind Koniferen, Laubhölzer stammen von Laubbäumen.
- Die botanische Familie, zu der die Holzart gehört.
Benachrichtigen, wenn verfügbarReferenzholzart. Derzeit keine Stücke auf Lager.
Passt es zu Ihrem Projekt?
Ideal für
- 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
Kein Europäische Esche im aktuellen Drop
Ähnliche Holzarten auf Lager
Derzeit kein Europäische Esche. Diese Holzarten eignen sich für dieselben Projekte und sind verfügbar.
Benachrichtigung zu Europäische Esche
Wir benachrichtigen Sie per E-Mail, wenn neue Europäische Esche-Bohlen bei KORENA eintreffen. Jedes Stück ist ein Unikat, deshalb zählt eine frühe Nachricht.
Holzbild
So sieht es aus
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
- Gerader Faserverlauf, grobe, ungleichmäßige Textur.
Arbeiten mit dieser Holzart
Verarbeitung
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.
Finish
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.
Trocknung
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.
Wie stark arbeitet es?
Holz quillt und schwindet in der Breite, wenn die Luft feuchter und trockener wird. Schätzen Sie das saisonale Arbeiten einer Europäische Esche-Platte, bevor Sie die Befestigung planen.
Erwartetes saisonales Arbeiten
etwa 9,7 mm
Platte mit Tischplattenhaltern oder Langlochwinkeln befestigen, nicht verleimen oder fest verschrauben.
Lineares Schwindmodell: Breite × (Schwindmaß ÷ 28 % Fasersättigung) × saisonale Feuchteschwankung. Verwendet 8,5 % Schwindmaß in Tangentialrichtung für Europäische Esche. Eine Planungsschätzung, keine Garantie.
Was es kostet
Sicherheit und Herkunft
- This species is recorded as commercially grown in Europe. This does not establish where an individual piece was harvested; check its origin details.
- Status auf der Roten Liste der IUCN: die weltweite Schutzbewertung dieser Art.
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.
Den vollständigen Leitfaden lesenAusführliche Hinweise zu Maserung, Farbveränderung, Verarbeitung und Formstabilität.
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
Käuferfragen
Häufige Fragen von Käufern
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?
Mechanische Eigenschaften
Technische Daten
Veröffentlichte Referenzwerte. Wo Quellen abweichen, steht die Spanne; der typische Wert wird für die Stufen oben verwendet.
| Dichte (kg/m³)Masse pro Kubikmeter bei etwa 12 % Holzfeuchte. Schwereres Holz ist meist härter und fester. | 620–740 kg/m³typisch 680 kg/m³ |
|---|---|
| Janka-Härte (N)Kraft, um eine Stahlkugel zur Hälfte ins Holz zu drücken. Das Standardmaß für Eindruckfestigkeit. | 6,200–7,000 Ntypisch 6.580 N |
| MOR: Biegebruchmodul (MPa)Biegefestigkeit: die Last, bei der ein Balken bricht. | 105–130 MPa |
| MOE: Elastizitätsmodul (GPa)Biegesteifigkeit: wie stark ein Regalboden oder eine Platte unter Last durchhängt. | 11.5–13.5 GPa |
| Radiales SchwindenSchwindmaß quer zu den Jahrringen, von frisch bis darrtrocken. Riftbretter arbeiten in diesem Maß. | 4.5–6.0 % |
| Tangentiales SchwindenSchwindmaß entlang der Jahrringe. Fladerbretter und die meisten Bohlen arbeiten in diesem Maß. |
