correcting Ebony cracks?

[mavrick1903]

any thoughts? the pen is done. platnium kit, Cigar, with Bloodwood inlay. I brought it into work, a very dry office environment. I think that's adding to it.

 

[bgray]

You could disasseble and put it back on the lathe. Then fill the cracks with epoxy mixed with ebony dust. Or maybe black dyed epoxy.

But if you want my honest opinion, I'd start over. It would be just as much work to do this repair as it would be to start over.

But you said that it's inlaid, right? Hmmmm. Maybe post a pic of the pen, and that would help with proper advise.

 

[Brewmeister35]

Ebony is known for cracking. Not much can be done about it.

 

[leehljp]

Two things on this from my perspective:

1. As Brian said - disassemble and sand down some, clean out the cracks and re-finish with a few layers of CA or other finish. The cracks on a couple of my pens were all in the pure black area of the wood (i.e. - not in a lighter streak or sapwood) and as such the cracks were not noticeable when re-finished.

2. I have not made any snakewood or all ebony pens since the spring but on the next one, I will try/use a rubbery glue to allow for minute' expansion and contraction. It is "my" belief that the solidness of glued blanks and brass tubes prevent the expansion/contraction due to heat and humidity - thereby causing the cracks. Some woods will move even more than snakewood or ebony and not crack; but the nature of snakewood and ebonies allow for very very little movement before cracking. Humidity and heat changes will cause expansion and contraction no matter how well something is sealed in finish.

So, it is my theory that a rubbery glue will allow for the minute' expansion/contraction without causing cracks.

 

[jthompson1995]

Originally posted by leehljp
So, it is my theory that a rubbery glue will allow for the minute' expansion/contraction without causing cracks.

I've heard this as well. On ebony and snakewood I have used a glue called amazing goop that stays flexible. So far I've had good luck and no cracks in ebony or snakewood pens I've used it on. I try to make sure to leave the blanks sit in my shop for 6-12 months before I use them since many ebony blanks are not very dry when they are sold due to the slow drying rate.

I also try to only use woods that are prone to cracking on kits that have a thicker wall around the tube so there is more wood there to absorb the movement. I don't know how well a Sierra would fare with crack-prone woods because of the very thin wall.

For your cracked pen, I would try to disassemble it and refinish it. If you CA sand it, the crack(s) will most likely not be visible afterwards. Be sure to make sure the pen is finished cracking before you refinish it, though, or you will have to re-do it all over again in the future.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by Brewmeister35
<br />Ebony is known for cracking. Not much can be done about it.

There are a few folks on IAP who have used Ebony for years without a cracking problem. Whether it is just dumb luck or the possibility they have a technique that avoids the problem is very debateable.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by leehljp
<br />.....So, it is my theory that a rubbery glue will allow for the minute expansion/contraction without causing cracks.

Lee: I have never tried an ebony blank; but have been thinking along the same lines as you. I agree that the first thing one needs to do is select a kit where the wood shell can be turned a little thicker.

There have been suggestions by some folks that a lot of the ebony commonly available is not fully seasoned so another idea I had was to drill the blanks and then let them sit for a while so they could dry from the inside as well as the outside.

The idea of a flexible glue also occurred to me and I thought that the silicone caulk that is used on bathtubs and windows and such might be a good choice. I also thought that drilling the blank with a hole with plenty of clearance would be a plus. (Some bit recommendations produce very tight holes.) And if there was some shrinkage of the blank during drying, the hole might need to be redrilled.

And finally, Russ Fairfield posted some comments about using ebony. As I recall, he had pretty much overcome the cracking problem; but I can't, for the life of me, remember what he had to say. Maybe a search of the forum will turn up his comments?

 

[DKF]

I have made several Ebony pens.....2 cracked and one did not. I took the one nice Cigar pen that cracked, and put it back on the lathe and filled with CA....refinished and put it back together.....it is now one of my personal pens as you can definitely see the crack....I do not use Ebony any longer. I use African Blackwood, and IMHO, it is every bit as beautiful, if not more. I finished one not too long ago and finished it with lacquer and it turned out very, very nice. Give Af. Blackwood and see if you don't find the same thing.