# Thermo-treated ash



## michaelsanders (Jun 8, 2013)

Has anybody ever worked with thermo-treated ash? Or any thermally modified lumber. I have used it a few times for exterior furniture with good results. I want to see if anyone else is using it and hear there experiences with it.

If you have never heard of this process, check out http://www.westwoodcorporation.com/what.html


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## rustynails (Jun 23, 2011)

I have seen it before but have not used it in a project. I did contact a company in Canada that makes it and asked about Black walnut being treated as I was looking for an Ebony substitute. They stated they had some and would send me a sample of it to review as far as how dark/black it was, but they never sent me the small sample (there idea) so I gave up on it as there is not much distribution in my area. I may try the site you posted to see what they have or what I can order if available.


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## michaelsanders (Jun 8, 2013)

James 101 - I've seen thermo treated polar and it looked great. The ash was especially brittle due to it being a loose grained material to begin with. Brittle to the point that I could easily roll over sharp edged with my fingers. I had to be very careful during glue ups not to bust the crisp edges. And complicated joinery was a challenge to keep clean. I was told that I had to use polyurethane glue (Gorilla glue) because the wood would soak up other glues too rapidly for a good bond. What was your gluing experience?

rustynails - I got my material from a local lumber broker in South Carolina. The company is Carolina Lumber Sourcing The company only deals in quantities of 100+ BF, though.


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## rustynails (Jun 23, 2011)

Thanks for the info Michael, I will have to give them a call.

Rustynails


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## shampeon (Jun 3, 2012)

Gibson has started using heat-treated maple for the fingerboards on a few of their models, instead of rosewood. I can't say I'm a big fan of the look on guitars, but that poplar looks nice.


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

I'm surprised at how nice that poplar looks!


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## tmw (Oct 19, 2017)

There is a lot of misinformation out there, for gluing please keep in mind that since thermally modified wood absorbs water much less than untreated wood clamp time should be increased by a few hours for more information please see https://www.thermallymodifiedwood.org/


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