Quarter sawn Ash any fans?

[Charles Coolidge]

Wondering if anyone has worked with quarter sawn Ash drilling, routing, staining, recommended clear coat? Wood movement? Etc. Reading up on it apparently it scores very good in just about every category of milling, gluing and finishing. Bonus points awarded if you have pics of a prior project in Ash.

Project: Wood 'head shell' for a tube driven electric guitar amplifier head. Curly Maple is pretty common for high end head shells but I wanted to do something different and less overpowering than AAA curly Maple. I had crossed the bold flatsawn Ash off my list for the same reason even though its a common electric guitar body wood.

Then I spied some quarter sawn Ash Friday at a local hardwood supplier. The Olive Ash variety e.g. it has both darker heartwood and blonde sapwood. The straight grain almost reminded me of acoustic guitar Spruce the growth rings. I purchased two 10 foot 4/4 boards. I'll have to glue them together to get a 10.5 inch finished width.

Here's some quarter sawn curly Ash I ordered today for the front/rear panels. I'm fine with figured panels just didn't want the entire shell figured.

curly ash 1.jpg

curly ash 2.jpg

Here's a typical highly figured shell and cabinet, its a bit much.

qxa6bvngghg7muh0xd7x.jpg

[Rod Sheridan]

I always quarter saw ash, much nicer grain...Rod

[Mark Gibney]

I've made a couple of pieces that used quartersawn ash, but it's not something I can buy out here in Los Angeles. The guys at Bohnhoff Lumber here tell me they don't get asked for it, and in fact can't get it.
Which is a pity. It can be nice stuff.
The first time I used it I randomly found some 4/4 QSAsh with lovely coloring in a flitch of plainsawn.
The second time was for a door - I ripped 8/4 boards into 2" strips and flipped them around and glued them back up. The evidence of the door being made from glued-up rails and stiles is not visible, so it works.

[Earl McLain]

Good looking boards. I don't have the answers to your questions--but i'm wondering if the heat generated by the tubes might influence the opinions of those with experience. That would create more wood movement than a typical furniture build, i'd think.
earl

[Charles Coolidge]

Mark kind of surprised you can't get Ash in LA, it's plentiful up here in Portland, OR in either flat or quarter sawn.

Earl while the vacuum tubes do get quite hot the rear is well vented. Head shells have been made from Birch ply and all manner of hardwoods for decades with no issue. Even the Tolex (vinyl cloth) glued on coverings hold up well. Now if the wood was not dried properly yes the heat generated by these amps would dry it over time.

[Richard Coers]

It would be an absolutely horrible sacrilege to stain quarter or rift sawn ash.

[Kevin Jenness]

It would be an absolutely horrible sacrilege to stain quarter or rift sawn ash.

How about burning it? https://ellsworthstudios.com/black-pots-gallery

[Jim Becker]

QS and rift ash (and walnut) are wonderful...

[Mark Gibney]

Mark kind of surprised you can't get Ash in LA, it's plentiful up here in Portland, OR in either flat or quarter sawn.

Interesting! But up in Oregon you have lots of things I covet, such as rain, lush greenery, and now QS ash.

[Rob Luter]

I like quartersawn everything, except for plywood and MDF .

Seriously though, I'm not sure there's a wood type that I prefer flat sawn to quarter sawn.

[Alan Gage]

Another rift/QS ash fan here. The flatsawn figure of ash can get a little extreme for my tastes. I recently did a mix of white oak and ash on my living room/kitchen floor and most of it was quarter/rift sawn. I like it much better than the flat sawn I'd used in the bedrooms.

I have a sawmill and have started cutting as much quarter/rift sawn as it practical for my future projects. It's slower but it's my preference.

Alan

[Prashun Patel]

Are those amps made with solid curly panels or veneers?

[Chip Byrd]

I love it. I have had good success adding cherry or walnut highlights.

[Charles Coolidge]

Are those amps made with solid curly panels or veneers?

That's solid curly maple.