drying time for ash?

[B P Arn]

I have an ash blank from a tree taken down by a line crew before COVID. They said it had signs of ash borer damage. I've had it stacked and air drying since I slabbed it.

Started inletting late last summer and found it brittle. Struggled with the lock inlet to the point of messing it up. Set it aside and haven't gone back to it yet. Maybe it dried too long, or maybe it's just me. Only my third lock inlet. But, I had the barrel channel done elsewhere, and that came out perfect.

It can't be "dried too long". Once it is dry, it is dry, and more drying time will not hurt anything.

 

[Clark Badgett]

The old, and often wrong, rule of thumb is 1 year per inch of thickness. There are many pages online dedicated to properly drying or kilning lumber. Ash will behave pretty much the same as any other common domestic hardwood. Just try doing a quick web search and see what pops up.

I love working with ash, but I can't imagine its bright color and large pores on a gun stock. If you do go forwards with it I would love to see the photos whenever you've completed it!

It’s no lighter in color than maple. A bit of period stain and it’s quite a pretty stock wood.

 

[B P Arn]

For what it might be worth, a lot of Fender electric guitar bodies have been made of ash over the years, starting in the 1950s I believe. I have an American Standard Stratocaster I bought new in 1994 and it has an ash body.