Ca finish on Ebony?

[Guest]

HAd an exasperating time today trying to put a CA finish on ebony.
Anyone have the secret.
Wiping down with alcahol and actone didn't work.
Up till now I've had excellent luck with CA and teh BLO method posted here.

 

[ilikewood]

Ebony has to be one of the hardest woods to finish. Every little tiny flaw shows and seems to be impossible to do right.

The only thing I use now on ebony is a dip lacquer. It produces a smooth coat without any of the micro scratches showing.

 

[pecartus]

ebony will crack, break (very dry wood)and just a pain to work with. I do not use any oils with this wood and actually when I sand it, I use wet sanding, yep, water and good ole 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper up to 1000 grit. This is messy, but works and also minimizes heat build-up from friction. Let it dry for a hour or so then use laquer (dip or brush-natural brisle) or oil base poly finish (brush). I don't finish ebony on the lathe, again to minimize heat caused by the friction when turning. Comes out very brillant black in color.

 

[Daniel]

Yep, Ebony is a PAAAAAAIN!!!. Try African Blackwood as an alternative. But considering you already have the pen made. You can either keep trying the CA finish and somewhere around 20 tries you might get lucky and land one. or simply go with anouther type of finish entirely. I gave up on the CA for Ebony a long time ago.

 

[pecartus]

Can you get African Blackwood without the sap wood? Everything I have seen in Blackwood has that creamy white looking sapwood in it?

 

[Evan]

The only Ebony I have ever tried is Macassar Ebony, and I had trouble keeping the oil from coming out after a CA finish... I see a tiny blotch (size of a pea) on one end. But my brother did one and it seemed fine.

I actually got a little crack in the African Blackwood though.

pecartus - you can get African Blackwood without sap wood. I got some from Ryan (woodturningz).

 

[Daniel]

Patrick,
I second the Ryan Suggestion. I have goten it with and without the sap wood on request.

 

[Doghouse]

Check my latest post. I just turned ebony and found that rubbing compound followed by polishing compound leave a neer perfect finish. You can't beleive how easy it is!