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.
- Coltivato e raccolto in Europa.
- Gruppo botanico. Le conifere hanno foglie aghiformi, le latifoglie hanno foglie larghe.
- La famiglia botanica a cui appartiene la specie.
Avvisami quando arrivaSpecie di riferimento. Al momento non ci sono pezzi disponibili.
È adatto al tuo progetto?
Ideale per
- 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
Nessun pezzo di European Ash nel lancio attuale
Specie simili disponibili
Al momento non è disponibile European Ash. Queste specie sono adatte agli stessi progetti e hanno pezzi disponibili.
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Ti inviamo un’email quando arrivano nuove tavole di European Ash su KORENA. Ogni pezzo è unico, quindi conviene saperlo in anticipo.
Aspetto del legno
Che aspetto ha
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.
Lavorazione
Come si lavora
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.
Finitura
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.
Essiccazione
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.
Quanto si muoverà?
Il legno si gonfia e si ritira in larghezza al variare dell’umidità dell’aria. Stima il movimento stagionale di un piano in European Ash prima di progettare i fissaggi.
Movimento stagionale previsto
circa 9,7 mm
Fissa il piano con nottolini o staffe asolate, non con colla o viti serrate.
Modello di ritiro lineare: larghezza × (ritiro ÷ 28 % di saturazione delle fibre) × variazione stagionale dell’umidità. Usa un ritiro tangenziale del 8,5 % per European Ash. È una stima di progetto, non una garanzia.
Quanto costa
Sicurezza e provenienza
- Coltivato e raccolto in Europa.
- Stato nella Lista rossa IUCN: la valutazione globale dello stato di conservazione di questa specie.
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.
Leggi la guida completaNote approfondite su marezzatura, variazione del colore, lavorazione e stabilità.
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
Domande degli acquirenti
Domande degli acquirenti
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?
Proprietà meccaniche
Dati tecnici
Valori di riferimento pubblicati. Quando le fonti non concordano, viene mostrato l’intervallo e il valore tipico è usato per le scale sopra.
| Densità (kg/m³)Massa per metro cubo con circa il 12 % di umidità. In genere, un legno più pesante è anche più duro e resistente. | 620–740 kg/m³valore tipico 680 kg/m³ |
|---|---|
| Durezza Janka (N)Forza necessaria per spingere una sfera d’acciaio fino a metà nel legno. È la misura standard della resistenza alle ammaccature. | 6,200–7,000 Nvalore tipico 6580 N |
| MOR: modulo di rottura (MPa)Resistenza alla flessione: il carico al quale una trave si rompe. | 105–130 MPa |
| MOE: modulo elastico (GPa)Rigidità alla flessione: quanto si incurva una mensola o un piano sotto carico. | 11.5–13.5 GPa |
| Ritiro radialeRitiro trasversale agli anelli di crescita, dal legno verde a quello anidro. È il movimento delle tavole a taglio radiale. | 4.5–6.0 % |
