Beech and ash

[Wend]

Hi folks,

With the end of my bench build in sight, I went ahead and ordered some beech for the vice jaws. You can never have too much wood, so I also got a piece of ash to take me up to the free shipping level.

Unfortunately, I ordered both in the same size, and only when they arrived did I realise that I needed to tell which was which!

So before I do something silly, can I just check: The beech is the pinker one on the left, isn't it?

Incidentally, one side of the ash also has a much darker area. Is that normal? Is it the pith?

Thanks!
Wend

 

[Droogs]

lookingt at the pic the righthand to me is ash

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The pinker one is beech, the ash has a bit of darker (olive) heartwood - nothing wrong with it.

 

[Wend]

Ah, I see: Pith in the middle of the tree, then heartwood, then sapwood. Got it!

Wikipedia tells me that ash has a relatively high sapwood to heartwood, although as these are pretty wide boards I guess they're more likely to include heartwood.

Thanks too for confirming the species for me!

 

[custard]

Beech is commonly available in two different versions, Steamed Beech (which has a slight pink colour) and Unsteamed Beech (which is pale white/yellow). If you want to match your Beech in the future then make sure it's steamed, they're normally the same price so it's down to personal preference.

When buying Ash in person most buyers leave the boards with olive staining (unless perhaps it's a solid Olive colour, or it is in long stripes that run the length of the board), consequently timber yards will tend to ship Ash with blotchy olive stains to anyone who doesn't specify pure white boards. In the same way that Walnut is sold as "sapwood no fault", so Ash is often sold as "olive no fault". If you want pure white Ash then specify that upfront or select your boards in person.

Normally I avoid olive staining. I once bought a load of Ash that was heavily rippled, but quite a few of the boards had broad olive stripes running through them, it was quite effective when bookmarked.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Book matched?

 

[Argus]

Book matched?

A thick board, usually a species with an interesting colour/grain-pattern, that is sawn down the middle then opened up to reveal the two opposing internal faces - like opening a book, hence the term. The two pieces are then arranged to feature the interesting feature by joining it in the middle. It creates a type of symmetrical mirror effect, left and right.
Veneer leaves are often sold cut sequentially from the parent log so that this feature can be used in the finished piece.

Hope this helps.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I know what book matched means - custard said bookmarked.

 

[Argus]

About the same thing, Dear Boy, same thing........ almost!
Unintended wonders of the English language predictive text! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[JohnPW]

Ash has large pores and is "open/ coarse grained" whereas beech has almost invisible pores.