Natural Material
Ash
Properties, tempers, machining, finishes and uses — values shown for the KD12 condition.
Ash is a tough ring-porous hardwood designated FRAX in EN 13556, supplied green, air-dried, kiln-dried and thermally modified at 0.67 g/cm³.
Reference datasheet — Ash is not in the instant-quote catalog. Upload your part and an engineer will quote it in this grade or suggest the closest stocked equivalent.
What is Ash?
Ash is a tough ring-porous hardwood designated FRAX in EN 13556, supplied green, air-dried, kiln-dried and thermally modified at 0.67 g/cm³. It is specified for shock resistance and elastic bending in handles, sporting goods and furniture, with about 110 MPa tensile strength, 12 GPa elastic modulus and 1 % elongation. Limits are a maximum service temperature of 80 °C, low decay resistance (score 35) and coarse open pores that require filling for a smooth finish. Beech is the nearest alternative for bent work where impact loading is lower. Ash has a density of 0.67 g/cm³ (0.0242 lb/in³), lighter than 53% of natural material grades. Ash has a tensile strength of 110 MPa (16 ksi), stronger than 97% of natural material grades. Elongation at break is 1% and the elastic modulus is 12 GPa (1.74 Msi).
What is Ash used for?
- Tool handles
- Baseball bats
- Hockey sticks
- Furniture
- Interior trim
Ash properties
Typical room-temperature values for Ash-KD12 (default commercial condition for indoor furniture, flooring, tool handles and sports goods), compiled from standards, handbooks and producer data. Each bar shows where the value sits among the natural material grades in FabDigit's library — further right is higher. Other conditions have their own pages: see tempers.
Physical2
Ash has a density of 0.67 g/cm³ (0.0242 lb/in³), lighter than 53% of natural material grades.
Mechanical9
Ash has a tensile strength of 110 MPa (16 ksi), stronger than 97% of natural material grades. Elongation at break is 1% and the elastic modulus is 12 GPa (1.74 Msi).
Thermal5
Ash is rated for continuous service to 80°C (176 °F). It conducts heat at 0.16 W/m·K (0.0924 BTU/hr·ft·°F), better than 64% of natural material grades. Thermal expansion is 30 µm/m·K (16.7 µin/in·°F).
Electrical2
Ash is an electrical insulator with a dielectric strength of 3 kV/mm (76.2 V/mil) and a resistivity of 1×10⁸ Ω·m.
Chemical & Environmental1
Corrosion resistance is fair (35/100), worse than 64% of natural material grades.
Sustainability4
Producing a kilogram of Ash takes about 11 MJ of energy and emits 0.5 kg of CO₂ — more than 56% of natural material grades. Typical recycled content is 5%.
Manufacturability2
Ash's machinability is very good (70/100, worse than 67% of natural material grades).
Common Calculations4
Values are nominal handbook figures for design screening. Certified mill or lot data ships with every FabDigit order on request.
Ash tempers and conditions
Ash is supplied in 4 conditions, each with its own property set. Open one for its full datasheet. KD12 is what FabDigit quotes unless the drawing says otherwise.
- KD12DefaultDefault commercial condition for indoor furniture, flooring, tool handles and sports goods.110 MPa tensile
- GRNPick for steam bending, turning blanks and riven handle stock that will be dried after shaping.75 MPa tensile
- ADChoose for sheltered outdoor joinery or shop stock that will be re-conditioned before final machining.8 properties
- TMTPick for cladding, decking and sauna parts where dimensional stability and decay resistance matter more than toughness.12 properties
| Condition | Best for | Yield MPa | Tensile MPa | Elong. % | Hardness | Conductivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
KD12Default kiln-dried to ~12% moisture content (furniture/handle grade) | Default commercial condition for indoor furniture, flooring, tool handles and sports goods. | — | 110 | 1 | — | 0.16 W/m·K |
freshly sawn, above fibre saturation (>30% MC) | Pick for steam bending, turning blanks and riven handle stock that will be dried after shaping. | — | 75 | — | — | 0.28 W/m·K |
air-dried, 15–18% moisture content | Choose for sheltered outdoor joinery or shop stock that will be re-conditioned before final machining. | — | — | — | — | 0.18 W/m·K |
thermally modified ash (180–215 °C process) | Pick for cladding, decking and sauna parts where dimensional stability and decay resistance matter more than toughness. | — | — | 0.6 | — | 0.12 W/m·K |
Working with Ash
Is Ash easy to machine?
Saws, planes and turns cleanly with carbide tooling; moderate tool blunting and a tendency to tear-out at interlocked grain, so use sharp knives and light finishing cuts.
Can Ash be welded?
Not weldable — joined by PVAc/PU/epoxy adhesives (glues well) or mechanical fasteners; pre-drill near ends to avoid splitting.
Can Ash be formed, bent or molded?
One of the best steam-bending hardwoods: steam green or air-dried stock ~1 h per 25 mm and bend over a strap to tight radii.
Ash chemical composition (wt %)
Limits by weight percent from the governing specification, written the way the spec states them — a single maximum for impurities, a range for alloying elements, and the base element as balance. Nominal is the typical mid-range value.
| Element | Spec limit (wt %) | Nominal |
|---|---|---|
| celluloseoven-dry basis | 40 – 47 | 44 |
| hemicellulosexylan-rich, typical of hardwoods | 22 – 30 | 26 |
| ligninsyringyl/guaiacyl type | 21 – 28 | 25 |
| extractivestannins, fats, sugars; higher in heartwood | 2 – 6 | 4 |
| mineral ashCa, K dominated | 0.2 – 1 | 0.6 |
| moisture (as supplied, KD)added on top of oven-dry substance | 8 – 14 | 12 |
What surface finishes work on Ash?
Coarse open pores need grain filler for a mirror finish; stains, oils and waterborne lacquers take evenly, and exterior use requires preservative or thermal modification plus UV-stable coating.
Equivalent designations
Standards and trade names that resolve to Ash in FabDigit's catalog. Equivalence is nominal — check the exact specification when certification matters.
- EN / DIN / Werkstoff-Nr.
- FRAX (EN 13556)
- Also called
How much does Ash cost?
Ash is a standard-cost natural material ($$), cheaper than about 72% of the materials FabDigit quotes. Part price depends far more on geometry, tolerance and quantity than on the raw stock — upload a CAD file for a live quote.
Ash — frequently asked
What is Ash used for?
Ash is typically used for tool handles, baseball bats, hockey sticks, furniture and interior trim. In short: highest shock resistance here; excellent steam-bending hardwood; open-pore surface needs filler.
What is the tensile strength of Ash?
Ash has a typical tensile strength of 110 MPa (16 ksi) — stronger than 97% of natural material grades. Strength varies by condition: see the 4 listed tempers.
Is Ash easy to machine?
Yes — machinability is rated very good (70/100, worse than 67% of natural material grades). Saws, planes and turns cleanly with carbide tooling; moderate tool blunting and a tendency to tear-out at interlocked grain, so use sharp knives and light finishing cuts.
Can Ash be welded?
Not weldable — joined by PVAc/PU/epoxy adhesives (glues well) or mechanical fasteners; pre-drill near ends to avoid splitting.
What surface finishes work on Ash?
Coarse open pores need grain filler for a mirror finish; stains, oils and waterborne lacquers take evenly, and exterior use requires preservative or thermal modification plus UV-stable coating.
Can Ash be formed, bent or molded?
One of the best steam-bending hardwoods: steam green or air-dried stock ~1 h per 25 mm and bend over a strap to tight radii.
What is the maximum service temperature of Ash?
Ash is rated for continuous use to about 80°C (176 °F). Strength falls off well before that limit — check the elevated-temperature data for load-bearing parts.
How much does Ash cost?
Ash is a standard-cost natural material ($$), cheaper than about 72% of the materials FabDigit quotes. Part price depends far more on geometry, tolerance and quantity than on the raw stock — upload a CAD file for a live quote.
Sources
- Wood Handbook — Wood as an Engineering Material (FPL-GTR-190), mechanical properties of white/green ash — USDA Forest Products Laboratory (2021)
- EN 13556 — Round and sawn timber: nomenclature of timbers used in Europe (FRAX) — CEN (2003)
- EN 350 — Durability of wood and wood-based products, natural durability classes — CEN (2016)
- The Wood Database — Fraxinus excelsior / Fraxinus americana species data — wood-database (2023)
- Thermally modified ash cladding technical data (Thermory/ThermoWood class D) — International ThermoWood Association (2022)
Property data is compiled from published supplier and standards handbooks and normalised for comparison; hardness values on non-Brinell scales are converted approximately for charting only. Manufacturability limits are FabDigit quote-engine defaults and may be relaxed by engineering review. Nothing on this page is a certification — request mill certs, CoC or material test reports with your order.