Streaky Ash Bowl

[David Delo]

Remnant of an ash core that I did a couple years ago. 11 3/4" X 4 3/4" X 1/4" thick. Turned pretty easy but needed some sanding sealer to clean up a couple spots. Walnut oil finish and will buff it up in a few weeks.

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[carl mesaros]

Nice looking bowl but I wonder if it is Ash. Looks more like Box Elder to me.

[David Delo]

Thanks Carl about the bowl but definitely ash.

[Mark Greenbaum]

Ash Leaf Maple is Box Elder. Looks like Box Elder to me too.

[David Delo]

Well...........there's a couple votes for some version of box elder. Guess it could be but the only thing I'd say about that is there's no hint of any red or pinkish color to any of the markings either in the cutting of the tree in 2016 or now. All the coloring is light or dark brown. Here's a pic of some of the smaller cores.
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[John K Jordan]

Well...........there's a couple votes for some version of box elder. Guess it could be but the only thing I'd say about that is there's no hint of any red or pinkish color to any of the markings either in the cutting of the tree in 2016 or now. All the coloring is light or dark brown. Here's a pic of some of the smaller cores.

I hate to sound like a broken record (does anyone use records these days?) but: Look at the end grain and you will know what it is NOT. No guessing from a photo and no voting needed.

Ash is strongly ring porous. Box elder (a type of maple) is diffuse porous. The difference is unmistakable.

Ring porous means there are distinctive pores in the "earlywood" in each ring, usually many and usually quite large, making it easy to see the ring boundaries.
Diffuse porous means the pores are evenly distributed with no big difference at the ring boundary. Sometimes it's very hard to see the ring boundaries.

Box elder doesn't always have red. Many species can have streaks.

Compare the end grain photos at the bottom of these pages:
http://www.wood-database.com/white-ash/
http://www.wood-database.com/box-elder/

Here, I'll make it easy!

Ash and Box Elder:

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To learn how to examine end grain read section 7 in this article: http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-identification-guide/
All you need is a small piece of the wood and a single-edged razor blade. You don't even need the razor blade for ash - just look at the end grain of the finished piece with a small magnifying glass. You probably don't even need the magnifying glass with Ash.

If the end grain looks kind of like ash this might help narrow it down, if that's of interest:
http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/ash-wood-black-white-and-everything-in-between/

JKJ

[Harold Balzonia]

Jezebel, JKJ - I thought we were never to let facts get in the way of a strong opinion....

[John K Jordan]

Jezebel, JKJ - I thought we were never to let facts get in the way of a strong opinion....

Dang, sorry, I forgot...

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I saw the pictures and was thinking that’s not Ash, but we have a broken record coming with the same info that doesn’t get anyone any closer to what species a wood shown probably is, so I think now why bother, and then have this info that doesn’t help anyone, as people do know where to get that info (that is in my opinion of course), and don’t have to be told time and again where to go if they do like to know what kind of wood something is.

Anyway my opinion is that it is not Ash but a soft Maple, could be Manitoba Maple or even Silver Maple.