New Project - Family Woodworking

One on my daughters has asked me to build an office desk for her husband. He is a insurance adjuster and spends quite a bit of time in his home office. He is also a pretty big guy. 6' 5" tall and about 260 pounds. So needless to say I'm going to have to make it taller than normal and the space between the pedestals wider than normal. with a baby expected any day now she wants a desk that will hide his tower and printer to keep it from curious little hands.

She found something she liked made by Norm. http://www.symionic.com/newyankee/in...roduct=7916598 I'll adapt it a bit to fit her needs as well as make it look a bit more early American or Shaker

I'm thinking about building it from ash mostly because of the cost of the wood. Everything that I've built for them in the past has been either maple, walnut or cherry but saving myself over $100 in the cost of lumber has me almost convinced to give it a try. I buy all my lumber from these folks http://www.neforestproducts.com/ and usually get a small discount or some free wood because I always bring coffee and donuts

Question for you folks. Is ash a decent choice? how does it mill and finish? It looks a bit like oak to me and oak doesn't really fit into the style of her house. Maybe I should dip into the Social Security a bit and go for the maple

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