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Thread: "Smoked Ash"/Cambia Ash
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4th February 2021, 01:01 PM #1
"Smoked Ash"/Cambia Ash
I came across this highly figured timber I'd never seen before.
It's called Smoked Ash or Cambia Ask, which is a trade name.
It seems to be a marketing name for a mix of the North American White Ash, Soft Maple, Red Oak and Yellow Poplar.
The timber is treated to extreme temperatures, "Thermal modification removes natural sugars, preventing the wood from absorbing or giving off water vapour, and developing bacterial decay. Wood exhibiting low Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) is restaurant to cupping, warping, twisting.
20210204_091147.jpg
Thermally modified wood as a green alternative to tropical hardwoods | Architecture & Design
The darker pic is in full sun with a clear sanding sealer on it.
The lighter pic is natural.
Both in full sunlight20210204_091128.jpg
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4th February 2021, 08:36 PM #2Taking a break
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Ummm....that's not actually figured at all; the ripples are just knife marks from the planer and the grain is standard US White Ash.
We used quite a bit of it at my old work, it machines and finishes well but I couldn't stand the smell. The piece you have is actually rather pale, the darker stuff can approach Ebony in colour.
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5th February 2021, 01:49 PM #3
It's probably my selection of photo area, the figure is quite good.
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5th February 2021, 02:10 PM #4Senior Member
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Where is the figure ' quite good'?
Certainly devoid of figure in both pics i.m.o.
Grain is fairly nondescript too
Maybe too uniform in appearance for my liking...just looks generic,so to speak
Heaps of good applications for it though
And if it takes the pressure off tropical forest assets in S.E.Asia,then a from me
Mr Fiddleback
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5th February 2021, 06:29 PM #5
It's your taste that influences if figure is good or not, so I'll leave that to you.
Yeah, the info about taking pressure of tropical forests attracted me. North America prime forestry areas have high rainfall and snow melt effects. My understanding is that NA grown timber grows really fast compared to Aust hardwood species, e.g. Sydney Bluegum growth rates. But you have to allow for fast growing, less dense, timber with wide annual growth rings.
All North America or European timbers are significantly lower in per cubic meter retail costs than Aus timbers, imo and ime.
And there are good sawable native species logs going to that damnable Eden, NSW woodchip mill/exporter where they chip all the logs. We are meant to be the smart country, but turning huge value, sawn timber suitable logs to be chipped to meet an export requirement seems to be what a dumb country does.
They should be cutting the tree, sawing out boards and putting all of the waste, including branches, to the chipper.
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5th February 2021, 06:40 PM #6
My dodgy pic of Cambia ash glued up into a decorative 150mmx350mm posts in a commercial setting.
Poor photos I know.
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5th February 2021, 06:57 PM #7Taking a break
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Sorry, but I have to respond to that. We're not discussing whether it's good or not, it simply doesn't exist in your photos; there's just the back end of a knot and basically every board of US White Ash looks like that.
"Figure" is generally taken to mean some kind of non-standard grain pattern, be it fiddleback, quilting, birdseye or anything else that gives it some depth.
THIS is figured US White Ash
PXL_20210205_074420778.jpg
Definitely keen to see some figured cambia if you want to post some more pics
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6th February 2021, 08:52 AM #8
Before this debate gets heated, we should agree on terminology. The word "figure" is somewhat inexact, but most take it to mean, as Elan implies, some pattern in the wood that is over & above the normal growth-ring and grain patterns, i.e. the patterns made by vessels & pores which are characteristic of the species. Figure usually comes from distortions in the normally straight up & down orientation of the cells & fibres that make up the wood. Why these distortions occur remains largely unknown.
I notice that a lot of people are a bit confused about the term & will refer to prominent grain structure that may be typical of a given wood as "figure". We don't seem to have a good descriptive single word for prominent grain that clearly indicates the difference.
Northern hemisphere Ash (Fraxinus spp.) is a ring-porous wood, and especially where it grows under strong seasonal influences this creates very prominent seasonal growth patterns. The pores form in sharply-defined rings & are quite large, you can see them with the naked eye if your eyesight is good, & that is what forms those very obvious lines in Clinton's sample. Ash is usually 'straight grained' but it does occasionally have a fiddleback figure. I have a piece somewhere, rescued from a firewood pile when I was living in Canada, which has very obvious, evenly-spaced fiddleback lines - these run perpendicular to the grain lines. I'll post a pic later if I can find it...
Cheers,IW
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6th February 2021, 01:30 PM #9Senior Member
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LOL not sure if anyone will get 'heated' so to speak.
It's the wood that gets toasted LOL.
My response was more to do with the words 'highly figured' being used.
Not 'figured' but rather 'highly figured'.
The examples shown were not what I would describe as 'highly figured'
I consider grain orientation as 'figure' too
Not just Fiddleback bird's-eye etc
Hence my comment about the grain being somewhat nondescript...or lacking figure.
Grain that appears conservative and predictable
But hey each to their own!
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder :;
Also there are some good articles regarding Eucalypts and their suitability for use in Thermal Modification.
Grandis is apparently a stand out candidate
Globulus,Saligna,Pelita also trialled too
Plantation grown material used.
And the prospect of achieving some really rich colours particularly with the red hues.
Good work is being done in this space.
Mr Fiddleback :)
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6th February 2021, 03:56 PM #10
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6th February 2021, 05:28 PM #11
Yes, no need to get heated. And thanks Ian for hosing out a fire that I wasn't going to get ito and that I don't think that elanjacobs was trying to start.
Calling a board figured or highly figured is my opinion but I'm respectfull of others views, terminology and education, but I'll just go on being happy with the board and the price.
I think it will produce a great top for a hall table that sits on top and 'floating' of a blond timber frame, so if I'm happy, then that's the point.
But really, I wanted to bring attention to this timber treatment and the resulting post-treatment properties and how trees that can grow fast in snow/cold wet parts of the world (at the expense of density), and how it relieves pressure on the flogged out tropical jungles. Elanjacobs agrees with the environmental benefits and the processing results. (I think)
It's 1/2 the price of straight and knot free Euc boards, and not as boring due to its 'figure'.
Anyway, I've highlighted it on the forum, as my objective as a good citizen, and it's up to the individual to see what they think about it.
Happy adventures in timbers!
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7th February 2021, 05:37 PM #12Taking a break
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