: It's hard to tell, but ash is a very hard close grained wood that
: doesn't glue easily. If the wood were sanded very smooth or
: planed and not sanded there may not have been enough
: "tooth" for the epoxy to stick to. Also if there was
: excess clamping pressure you can squeeze out the epoxy from the
: joint and then there's not enough left to work. Only guessing.

I've always considered ash a fairly open grained wood that does glue easily... I've never had issues with ash. Maple - yes. Ash - never.

http://clearstreamwood.com/wood/ash.html