Species data
Oregon Ash
Fraxinus latifolia - a hardwood from western North America.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 1,160 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,360,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.61 |
| Density | 38.1 lb/ft3 (610 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 3.17 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 8.1% tangential / 4.1% radial |
| Indicative price | $5.00 per board foot (estimated) |
Values are at about 12% moisture content. Density is specific gravity times 62.4; a board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so weight per board foot is that density divided by twelve. Anything marked estimated is our own figure, not a measured one.
How Oregon Ash compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 54% of them, heavier than 50%, and stiffer than 23%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Oregon Ash it weighs about 16.9 lb. A stack of ten is 169 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Oregon Ash is about 95% as hard and 87% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 8.1% tangential against 4.1% radial, a ratio of 2.0 to 1. The wider that ratio, the more unevenly a flatsawn board moves across its width as humidity changes, and the more it wants to cup; anything near or above 2 to 1 is worth quartersawing or restraining for panels and wide tops. This one moves comparatively evenly.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Oregon Ash on hardness in this database: Koa (1,170 lbf), Chestnut Oak (1,130 lbf), Iroko (1,190 lbf), Makore (1,200 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Works easily by hand or machine and steam-bends well, though it smells unpleasant when cut
Durability. Perishable heartwood with no real insect resistance, so unsuited for exterior exposure
Typical uses. flooring, millwork, boxes, baseball bats, tool handles, turned objects.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (which cites the USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Oregon Ash is not individually listed in the printed FPL/Hoadley dimensional change coefficient chart, so CT/CR are omitted. Uses, region, durability and workability summarized from The Wood Database. Price indicative.
These calculators are for planning and estimation. Engineering results (shelf sag, wood movement) use published average material properties; real boards vary by grade, grain, moisture and defects. Verify load-bearing designs with a professional.