Ash Tree in the garden

benvall

I’ve got an old ash tree in the garden, as the picture. Is it worth saving some, drying it for a year or so and trying to build a guitar body. Or is it fire wood? 

https://imgur.com/a/6H4QEQj

LastMantra

Is it dead? It looks it.

TTony

Have you got the tools to turn it into planks?

 Ash blanks are not exactly expensive ...  do you want to spend time preparing a blank out of the tree, or making a guitar with some (pre-prepared) wood that will be fit for purpose ...

benvall

TTony said:

Have you got the tools to turn it into planks?

 Ash blanks are not exactly expensive ...  do you want to spend time preparing a blank out of the tree, or making a guitar with some (pre-prepared) wood that will be fit for purpose ...

You’re right. Not sure I can be bothered to spend time making a blank. When I see posts like yours I start thinking, that looks good. I’d like to do that

benvall

LastMantra said:

Is it dead? It looks it.

I cut part of it down a few weeks ago as it looked like it was about to fall down. 

TTony

benvall said:

TTony said:

Have you got the tools to turn it into planks?

 Ash blanks are not exactly expensive ...  do you want to spend time preparing a blank out of the tree, or making a guitar with some (pre-prepared) wood that will be fit for purpose ...

You’re right. Not sure I can be bothered to spend time making a blank. When I see posts like yours I start thinking, that looks good. I’d like to do that

We had a (large) Ash tree taken down a while back.

I wondered at the time whether it was worth trying to keep some of the trunk for body blanks, but decided against.  You need to be able to cut it lengthways into planks, store it so that it'll dry OK, and then there's no guarantee that it'll be good for "tonewood".
  
It became firewood!

paulnb57

TTony said:

  
It became firewood!

And very good firewood it is too!

I have a copy of an old verse that extols the virtues (or not) of different species of wood for burning for heat, one verse ends...

Ash wet, or Ash dry
A King shall warm His slippers by...

Our woods have many Ash.....

Roland

Am I correct that the diameter is about 15”? The tree look as though it has been dead for some time, and there are structural cracks in its upper trunk. Given that it was about to fall it’s likely that parts of the lower trunk are already showing signs of rot. The chances are that there’s not a great deal of useable timber. You would need to cut slabs, square them up, and glue several slabs together To produce a body blank. 

Assuming that you’ve got a chain saw what you could do is lay it down, supported off the ground, and do a rip cut along its centre line. Use several passes, cutting 2 or 3 inches with each pass. Looking at the inside you’ll be able to decide whether there’s anything useable, or whether it’s just firewood.

Leo used Ash and Alder because they were cheap, not because of any tonal qualities, or for there looks. If you want to make a guitar from your own wood, and you’ve got the skills and tools, then it would make an interesting project ... but it’s probably just firewood.

Funkfingers

Roland said:

Leo used Ash and Alder because they were cheap, not because of any tonal qualities, or for their looks.

IIRC, one of the reasons why Mister Fender chose ash (and pine before that) was for its bold grain because it would show through the semi-transparent butterscotch Blonde finish. He was, indeed, mostly interested in ash because it was cheap.

Roland said:

make a guitar from your own wood

That’s gotta hurt! 

benvall

Thanks for the replies all

When I get round to cutting it I’ll pass it through with the chainsaw like @Roland said and see what it’s like. I think it’s more of a dream than something I’ll actually make. I like the idea of being able to say the guitar came from my garden. 

On the other hand it’ll keep me warm in winter too