Ash for a roubo build

[Trip]

==>Christopher Schwarz's opinion is that you can use anything

Yea, but in his book (forget if it's in the Red or Blue), he does qualify that opinion somewhat. If you read the detailed write-ups on the individual benches, he discusses 'issues' that cropped-up long after the build was completed...

 

But in general, you're spot-on -- you can make almost anything work -- it's just that some species work 'better' -- depending on how one defines 'better'...

 

@OP, Ash is fine.. But you need to be a bit careful sourcing material. Around this neck of the woods, hardwood dealers are practically giving it away to clear their yards of Ash stock. I believe it's now illegal (or about to become illegal) to transport Ash logs across state lines... I forget which beetle it is, but KD doesn't kill it and there have been some real problems. My local dealer keeps Ash in a separate shed at the very edge of the yard to reduce the chances of infestation spreading to his main buildings...

[Dave H]

sorry this is kind of a silly question, but when you talk about "laminated" 2x6 what does that actually mean.  i have heard that term a few times and at first just assumed it meant the boards were jointed, planed and then glued together. now i am not so sure.

I ran the 2x6s through the planer and glued three of them together forming a beam cleaned and an squared the edges than glued several of these beams together to form the top of the bench that's a fairly simplified version of what I did. The legs the chops every thing was laminated together to achieve the mass that I wanted for my bench. Laminating just means gluing more than one piece of lumber together. 

[Byrdie]

The beetle is the Emerald Ash Borer.  The city of St Paul is about to remove all of its ash trees to prevent the infestation from spreading further.  There are treatments that can help slow or prevent the spread but pretty soon the Ash is going to go the way of the Elm.

[tim0625]

I'm going to go out on a limb and advise against getting the ash for your bench.  Not that ash isn't great ..it is... but based on what you said, you're just beginning to buy some tools that will handle this type of challenge and the wood is green and it's a big deal to take wood from green & rough to the quality you'll want for a bench - dry, planed, and straight.  And, it's time consuming.  You sound like you want to build things now.  Since you already recognize that you will build many benches, let this opportunity pass-- there will be more wood available when you're more prepared to deal with it.