# Do you think this will have figure?



## bugeater281 (Mar 28, 2019)

Long story short, I got a massive log. 36inch across, ash. I’m having a guy come this weekend to mill it with a bandsaw. I’m just getting excited and impatient. A couple off cut have had some figure, so I’m hopeful. It’s the base of the tree, and the tree has a small knot and 4 big branch offshoots. Smallest is probably around 12in across. I’m no expert on milling, does every tree have figure somewhere? Or is a tree more likely to have figure if it’s found somewhere else?


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## Karl_TN (Mar 28, 2019)

Most trees have figure in the crotch areas, where the trunk flares out near the ground, and around burls (unlikely in this tree). Other than this, I wouldn't expect a to see a lot of figure in ash trees. This tree does seem to have some nice heartwood color which is nice since ash can look rather plain. To me it looks a lot like oak, but much more stable for woodturning. Pretty easy to turn when green. 

-Karl
PS. Don't forget to put sealant on the end grain.

Reactions: Agree 3


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## Mr. Peet (Mar 29, 2019)

@bugeater281 

You are teasing us, what did the butt end grain look like. Green ash (versus white and other)? Picture 2 shows some olive graining, that would be awesome for sure.


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## Patrude (Mar 29, 2019)

Like said already I think the crotch area will yield some unusual grain patterns. I also believe strongly in sealing the wood. My choice is Anchor Seal

Reactions: Agree 1


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## bugeater281 (Mar 29, 2019)

Mr. Peet said:


> @bugeater281
> 
> You are teasing us, what did the butt end grain look like. Green ash (versus white and other)? Picture 2 shows some olive graining, that would be awesome for sure.



3 year old for scale, I’m not sure which spieces it is. However it looks like it will have a nice brown core. 



 




Patrude said:


> Like said already I think the crotch area will yield some unusual grain patterns. I also believe strongly in sealing the wood. My choice is Anchor Seal


I will be sealing the ends, wasn’t sure how the mill guy would feel about a anchorseal on the ends, wasn’t sure if it would leave a waxy residue on the blade. After it’s cut, I’ll cut off any checking then seal.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Mr. Peet (Mar 30, 2019)

bugeater281 said:


> 3 year old for scale, I’m not sure which spieces it is. However it looks like it will have a nice brown core. View attachment 163318View attachment 163319 View attachment 163320
> 
> I will be sealing the ends, wasn’t sure how the mill guy would feel about a anchorseal on the ends, wasn’t sure if it would leave a waxy residue on the blade. After it’s cut, I’ll cut off any checking then seal.



Yes, seal them now. Will not bother the blade at all. Easier to seal log end versus board ends.

I do not see figure potential, but plenty of prime wood. Good luck.


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 30, 2019)

That's a great grab, ash is fine lumber, I love to work with it. I call it oak without the stink


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## bugeater281 (Mar 30, 2019)

woodtickgreg said:


> That's a great grab, ash is fine lumber, I love to work with it. I call it oak without the stink



It should have a cool grain pattern.


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 30, 2019)

We used to have ash like that here, it's all gone now due to the emerald ash borer. I've got 2 10' logs all milled to 8/4, it will be my new workbench.


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## Arn213 (Mar 30, 2019)

Nice score! If you are thinking about using it for a guitar solid body blank, I would think twice about it as any white ash or black ash from up north would be too heavy- they usually come in about 4 plus pounds per board foot after drying to 6-10 percent moisture content. Basically, you will be looking at a body blank that would be around 5-6 pounds with the routes and shaped on a standard tele. Ideal tele body blank with routes/shaped is in the median of 4 pounds. Even if you chamber it, the body will still not get to the ideal weight. Your best bet is for laminated top and back sets at 1/4”.

Good luck with milling the logs.


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## bugeater281 (Mar 30, 2019)

Arn213 said:


> Nice score! If you are thinking about using it for a guitar solid body blank, I would think twice about it as any white ash or black ash from up north would be too heavy- they usually come in about 4 plus pounds per board foot after drying to 6-10 percent moisture content. Basically, you will be looking at a body blank that would be around 5-6 pounds with the routes and shaped on a standard tele. Ideal tele body blank with routes/shaped is in the median of 4 pounds. Even if you chamber it, the body will still not get to the ideal weight. Your best bet is for laminated top and back sets at 1/4”.
> 
> Good luck with milling the logs.



I don’t mind heavy guitars, I always sit when I play. Plus I still have a quite a few maple quilted tops laying around that I got on here. I’ll probably end up building some semi hollows, I love the sound of semi hollows.


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## Arn213 (Mar 31, 2019)

bugeater281 said:


> I don’t mind heavy guitars, I always sit when I play. Plus I still have a quite a few maple quilted tops laying around that I got on here. I’ll probably end up building some semi hollows, I love the sound of semi hollows.



I hear what you are saying and that is fine if the builds are for yourself. However, if someone commisioned a build from you, a lot of folks out there do care about the “weight”. There are plenty of musicians out there who typically stands during gigs and concerts for many hours plus rehearsal time with the guitar slung on their shoulders. Trust me on this- when you have something like that in the 9-10 pound range, for hours on ends, multiply that with the number of gigs/sessions/recording and concert times per month then per year (plus actuall transport time when you have to carry it around with its case from one place to another)- it could be detrimental to the heath of your shoulders and backs over time. Age and health condition does play a factor. Some guys will have a specific weight limit range on their guitars and that actually affects their buying and ordering decisions. Then there are musicians who have this idea in their head that “lighter woods sounds better” and while other argues that heavier woods “cuts through the mix”. It is controversial subject......


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## bugeater281 (Mar 31, 2019)

Arn213 said:


> I hear what you are saying and that is fine if the builds are for yourself. However, if someone commisioned a build from you, a lot of folks out there do care about the “weight”. There are plenty of musicians out there who typically stands during gigs and concerts for many hours plus rehearsal time with the guitar slung on their shoulders. Trust me on this- when you have something like that in the 9-10 pound range, for hours on ends, multiply that with the number of gigs/sessions/recording and concert times per month then per year (plus actuall transport time when you have to carry it around with its case from one place to another)- it could be detrimental to the heath of your shoulders and backs over time. Age and health condition does play a factor. Some guys will have a specific weight limit range on their guitars and that actually affects their buying and ordering decisions. Then there are musicians who have this idea in their head that “lighter woods sounds better” and while other argues that heavier woods “cuts through the mix”. It is controversial subject......



I have an oak guitar downstairs, surprisingly it’s only 11 pounds. Here’s the last heavy body I did.

Reactions: Way Cool 2


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## Arn213 (Mar 31, 2019)

bugeater281 said:


> I have an oak guitar downstairs, surprisingly it’s only 11 pounds. Here’s the last heavy body I did.
> View attachment 163401



Only 11 pounds you say just for the body . That is insanely very, very heavy and that is weight relieved. You either must be a body builder because a very heavy completed guitar weighs that much- Norlin era guitars are called “anchors for a reason”.


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## bugeater281 (Mar 31, 2019)

11 pounds isn’t that bad, a fender jazz bass can weight 8-12 pounds. Granted I’m 6ft 230 pound guy, and a mechanic. So weight doesn’t matter to me much. I lift a lot more regularly at work. However I also build lighter guitars. My current one is a poplar body. It shouldnt weigh much.

Reactions: EyeCandy! 1 | Way Cool 1


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## bugeater281 (Mar 31, 2019)



Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Mar 31, 2019)

Nice crotch pieces!


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## sprucegum (Mar 31, 2019)

woodtickgreg said:


> That's a great grab, ash is fine lumber, I love to work with it. I call it oak without the stink


Call me weird but I love the smell of ash. Not bad wood for the smoker either very mild smoke flavor great for fish and poultry. Yard ash grow pretty fast and are not as tight grained as forest trees, it is still pretty wood but not as good for handles as the tight grain stuff.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 1


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## Mr. Peet (Mar 31, 2019)

Looks good. Some challenges ahead in drying. Best of luck.


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## bugeater281 (Mar 31, 2019)

Mr. Peet said:


> Looks good. Some challenges ahead in drying. Best of luck.




Some anchorseal. Plus there in a shady area, long side of slabs facing east-west. And we have a nice breeze and open area where wind travels north-south. Any other tips?

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mr. Peet (Apr 1, 2019)

bugeater281 said:


> Some anchorseal. Plus there in a shady area, long side of slabs facing east-west. And we have a nice breeze and open area where wind travels north-south. Any other tips?
> 
> View attachment 163470



We always had standard width stacks, so we could sticker a cover sheet easily. Usually used metal roofing, hanging 4-6" inches over minimum on all sides, with the white face skyward (2 pieces per stack). This was just to limit common rain and weather. We had lowest grade materials to the outside, as the elements can be brutal. We have used old truck caps, tarp covered plywood and made continuous sheeting, from pile to pile like a mini roof using metal roofing sheets. Lots of options, sure you will figure one out.


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## Arn213 (Apr 1, 2019)

bugeater281 said:


> 11 pounds isn’t that bad, a fender jazz bass can weight 8-12 pounds. Granted I’m 6ft 230 pound guy, and a mechanic. So weight doesn’t matter to me much. I lift a lot more regularly at work. However I also build lighter guitars. My current one is a poplar body. It shouldnt weigh much.View attachment 163402



I was just giving you some base lines on weight per board foot. A lot of season builders I work with are prolific in getting certain goal weights on specific guitar style which data (hard numbers) are gathered from either their building experience or data gathered from other builders. Musicians can actually give you a lot of info. because they are the end users as far as sound and weight. Guitar styles typically has an average weight which folks use as a base line. Most season builders will rate their blank and if it doesn’t now meet the weight criteria, those will get rejected or get refused/return back to vendors (typically mid range companies does this when they buy a large quantity like ash, alder, mahogany for body woods). Typical strat* and tele bodies ideally at 4 pounds, LP bodies about 5 pounds (with carved top plus routes), etc., etc. If you don’t have data and base line goals on completed weight, you can end up with a wide range of weights on your build that could stem from light to very heavy. It is like “going blind” or “winging it”. Say, you have a customer who wants a custom build tele and he wants an achieve weight goal of 6-1/2 to 7 pounds- you have to factor that requirement and meet that goal. The challenge is figuring out how to get to that range. A 4 pound body with the neck/pickup assembly/hardware could be around 2.6 to 3 pounds (depending on the density of the neck material species and the weight of the hardware and that info. if gathered by weighing each and every component). 

Weight per board foot on lumber does become a factor if you are dealing with custom builds, especially when musicians you build for has a bad back, getting older or those that will be touring for a long period of time within a given year standing on stage or in recording sessions for hours on end- building for yourself is another story because you are only dealing with yourself and not the general public. 

Fender jazz bass usually has a tighter weight range from 8.5-9.5 pounds. That averages out to 9 pounds. The higher weight range towards the 10 plus pounds usually come from the 1970’s era. Keep in mind we are talking about weight of electric guitars and not bass guitars- bass guitars as you know will tend to be heavier due to many factors because of longer scale length/longer neck, more girth/bigger tuning machines and the weight increases when it goes up pass the 4th string standard to a 5, 6 string to even 8 string electric bass.

Reactions: Like 1


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## woodtickgreg (Apr 1, 2019)

Nice looking stack!

Reactions: Agree 2


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