Ash or something else for kitchen table .. ?

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes.

 

[Jacob]

Would beech be a sensible choice, I can get some at a reasonable price ... ?

Not particularly. Tough and hard to work. Also prone to movement.
But almost anything will do.

 

[cisamcgu]

Thanks @Jacob and @Phil Pascoe

 

[Keith Cocker]

Elm would be nice if you can get it. I’ve made smaller tables from Elm boards. Quite a lot of work to get them flattened with planes but great fun and good exercise.

 

[recipio]

More to keep the top straight and tidy particularly in taxing environments like kitchens with variable temperature/humidity etc.
Most tables including high class variations don't have them.

They keep table tops flat and look better of course. I was asked recently to restore a mahogany table that had large splits in it. The top had breadboards joined with a machined joint and I'm guessing was a 1920's reproduction. It was placed next to a radiator and went ' bang ' in the night. I can only guess that they got away with this in houses that had no central heating as it wouldn't be done nowadays.

 

[Jacob]

They keep table tops flat and look better of course. I was asked recently to restore a mahogany table that had large splits in it. The top had breadboards joined with a machined joint and I'm guessing was a 1920's reproduction. It was placed next to a radiator and went ' bang ' in the night. I can only guess that they got away with this in houses that had no central heating as it wouldn't be done nowadays.

Bread board ends have to be a loose fit to allow movement. Probably what caused your table to split - no breadboards no problem.

 

[baldkev]

Not sure about spalted myself - I tend to think it's better as firewood.
My sycamore table tops are finished with Osmo oil which seems very tough, but in a trad kitchen they wouldn't be finished with anything except a regular scrubbing down.

I like it spalted

 

[Droogs]

consider using a soap finish if you do use ash. Here's Mr Schwarz giving an intro to it

 

[Agent_zed]

This is an interesting topic for me as it comes into my recent thinking on whether or not to do certain things in certain ways, in particular wood choice.

Now there is sure to be historical reasons for using certain woods some of which may still hold true. e.g birch doesn't splinter so is good for lolly sitcks and childrens toys but there is also a lot of myth.

In my case I was looking at wood for guitar bodies. This is the equivalent of asking the best way of sharpening! but in terms of electric guitar bodies I've come to the conclusion that it pretty much makes no difference and the myth of specific 'tone' woods is mostly down to Fender and Gibson choosing woods mostly based on availability and cost. e.g There is no way they were going to make apple wood guitar bodies as you just can't buy the quantities of wood required.

Does that mean apple wood is a bad wood for building guitars? maybe, maybe not. It might make an awesome guitar but if you only choose what you are told is 'traditional' guitar wood you will never know. I always looked down on pine for a guitar body until i noticed Fender custom shop do a pine body guitar! these things are thousands so I would hope it is good. We're told oak is terrible for guitars. Well tell that to Brian May who make his out of oak, he seems to have done pretty well with it.

Long and the short of it, if you want an Ash table make an Ash table! Do a google search and you'll see plenty of solid ash tables that I assume haven't all instantly fallen to pieces or twisted into knots.

 

[Jacob]

.... I always looked down on pine for a guitar body until i noticed Fender custom shop do a pine body guitar!

Acoustic instruments, violin family, guitars etc, all ranges of quality, most commonly use spruce for the fronts and maple/sycamore for the body/neck, for good acoustic reasons! I guess sheer mass might be the bigger issue with electric.

Long and the short of it, if you want an Ash table make an Ash table! Do a google search and you'll see plenty of solid ash tables that I assume haven't all instantly fallen to pieces or twisted into knots.

Ash less good as the surface difficult to keep clean unless it's well sealed in. A waste of good wood too as it's excellent for tools, carts etc etc/. Sycamore most preferred as it cleans well and is useless for much else except music instruments (if it's at all rippled grain).
I think there were strong reasons for using one timber rather than another, starting with availability of course.

 

[Agent_zed]

Sycamore most preferred

not by the OP or anyone else wanting an Ash table.

Yellow is typically the safest colour for cars but not so useful if you don't want a yellow car.

Acoustic instruments, violin family, guitars etc, all ranges of quality, most commonly use spruce for the fronts and maple/sycamore for the body/neck, for good acoustic reasons! I guess sheer mass might be the bigger issue with electric.

and possibly because of what was available at the time when guitars were developed. Sitars are made of teak as they were made in a country with access to teak back in the day. tradition does not always make something the best, they just didn't have a lot of alternatives when they were developed and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Although it is likely with acoustics it will make more difference than electric, I was referring specifically to electric guitars though in this case, which other than having something strong enough not to break, just needs something to hold the electronics in place.

Ash less good as the surface difficult to keep clean unless it's well sealed in.

everything has its pro's and con's, wood in general more difficult to keep clean than plastic or glass. So OP should make a plastic or glass topped table?!

A waste of good wood too as it's excellent for tools, carts etc etc/.

Ash grows very quickly and is quite sustainable. Ash die back is likely to result in a fair bit more entering the market that would otherwise be firewood. Very few people actually rehandle their own tools (although to be fair I do myself) and even if you do it doesn't require an awful lot to make a few chisel handles. Ash is the primary wood I burn as it grows so rapidly in our garden.

 

[recipio]

Ash is the only firewood that can be burned in it's green state. Nothing gets a fire going like it !.
Going back to the original OP question it would still be worth using Sycamore over Ash as it looks better as it matures. If anything the alternate rings of hard and soft grain in ash becomes more obvious as it ages and is not particularly attractive. Sycamore is a more homogenous wood and will acquire all the dings and stains of a kitchen table. Your children will thank you for the patina !

 

[GuitardoctorW7]

not by the OP or anyone else wanting an Ash table.

Yellow is typically the safest colour for cars but not so useful if you don't want a yellow car.


and possibly because of what was available at the time when guitars were developed. Sitars are made of teak as they were made in a country with access to teak back in the day. tradition does not always make something the best, they just didn't have a lot of alternatives when they were developed and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Although it is likely with acoustics it will make more difference than electric, I was referring specifically to electric guitars though in this case, which other than having something strong enough not to break, just needs something to hold the electronics in place.


everything has its pro's and con's, wood in general more difficult to keep clean than plastic or glass. So OP should make a plastic or glass topped table?!



Ash grows very quickly and is quite sustainable. Ash die back is likely to result in a fair bit more entering the market that would otherwise be firewood. Very few people actually rehandle their own tools (although to be fair I do myself) and even if you do it doesn't require an awful lot to make a few chisel handles. Ash is the primary wood I burn as it grows so rapidly in our garden.

The round bits on a Sitar are made of a dried gourd

 

[Jacob]

Ash is the only firewood that can be burned in it's green state. Nothing gets a fire going like it !.
Going back to the original OP question it would still be worth using Sycamore over Ash as it looks better as it matures. If anything the alternate rings of hard and soft grain in ash becomes more obvious as it ages and is not particularly attractive. Sycamore is a more homogenous wood and will acquire all the dings and stains of a kitchen table. Your children will thank you for the patina !

Sycamore scrubs clean very well. It was the most widely used trad kitchen table-top material. Looks good too.
One of mine here:

 

[Jameshow]

Sycamore scrubs clean very well. It was the most widely used trad kitchen table-top material. Looks good too.
One of mine here:
View attachment 159888

How did you sharpen the plane to smooth that top?

 

[Jacob]

How did you sharpen the plane to smooth that top?

Belt sander followed by random orbital.
You could do it by hand but it'd take a lot longer and you could end up scraping it in parts and still hand sanding to finish.
Main prob being one bit of lifting grain would mean having to work the whole surface again. Just for planing aficionados!