Ebony Pens

[jason_r]

I have a friend who has some pieces of ebony he's had for a while.
This past weekend he raised the idea of providing me some blanks and having me turn some pens.

Other than my 1st thought being the insane price of ebony these days, my
next thought was this could be really cool... or really boring.

Anyone ever done an ebony pen? How'd it work?

I've also batted around ideas for embellishments... any suggestions.

Thanks

 

[Gary Max]

The biggie you need to stress------Ebony likes to crack.

 

[Karin Voorhis]

I have turned lots of ebony. It's beautiful and is great to see how sharp your tools Are it can show a lot of tool marks. I have not had any crack on me. However I am not going to make anymore pens with it since a lot of people are reporting the cracks may not show for over a year or more. I love the wood and would still turn it for myself. Just not a sale or give away.

 

[coloradobob]

I have had a 2 crack. One when I was sanding it. I think I over heated the blank. The other about 1 mo. later. I will not make another. I am kinda new at pen turning so maybe I did something wrong. coloradobob

 

[Mickey]

I've done three. All cracked sooner or later. I too am giving up on it. There are other more stable "blacks".

 

[DFerguson777]

I like African Black Wood. Not as black as Ebony, but close.
-Denny-
NC

 

[fernhills]

Hi, i made two, one cracked and the other i am waiting for it to crack. Still ok so far. The second one i drilled on lathe, using 4 different dia. bits working up to the final dia. Did not sand blank, used tools to make it smooth. MM dry after c/a, at the slowest speed i could go. I hope it works. Carl

 

[Mickey]

I like African Black Wood. Not as black as Ebony, but close.
-Denny-
NC

I found that a little India ink will blacken up most any wood about as black as you want it. Just be sure to let it dry.

Mickey

 

[keithlong]

I have made a total of 6 pens out of ebony and have had no problems, however the ebony i have is kiln dried. This may be a solution. Make sure that it is dry.

 

[lane223]

Depending on the "blackness" of your ebony, I wouldn't use a CA fininsh. If you want a black shiny pen, use plastic. But if you use a oil finish, now that is a nice looking pen. Had some crack, some not.

 

[Rick_G]

I've done 2 both cracked, one after about 3 months. Now I just use ebony for embellishments.

 

[Allenk]

Truth, as previously stated: The secret to Ebony pens is Dry Wood. I've made several... 15 or 20 or so... The first ones all cracked, over time. It is because the wood wasn't dry. The last time I bought Ebony, I bought it in block form - waxed - from Woodcraft.
I took the wood home, and sawed it into pen blanks. I immediately dipped an inch or so of the ends in Anchor Seal, and put them, stickered, into my refrigerator kiln. After about 3-6 months or so (time varied, but this is about average), I drilled some of them, and put them back into the kiln. After about another two or three months, I made some into pens. Several of them, and they haven't cracked. Yet. I've told people that I sell them to, to bring them back if they crack.
They sell well. I've got two left in my pen case, and they're not cracked. Because of the trouble they are, I sell the Comfort style for $50 each, and they go up from there. Ebony is a pain-in-the-posterior to make pens with.

 

[JakeAB]

Do your comments on ebony apply only to black ebony, or to the other kinds of ebony as well (black & white, brown, macassar, etc.)?

 

[Allenk]

JakeAB, if you're post is directed to me, I've never used anything other than Gaboon Ebony, as black as I can get it. I've never tried the other types.

 

[galoot_loves_tools]

I think that ebony will be prone to cracking anywhere you have seasonal extremes in temperature and humidity. You are taking a rather brittle wood and gluing it onto a brass tube, a recipe for failure.

 

[greggas]

I have turned a lot of Gabon Ebony pens. I love it...turns like butter. Have not had any problems ( at least that I know of) with cracking. As far as embellishments go on ebony I like to use the Pen Wizard on it and also had good success with laminating in a coke can for nice silver accents.

 

[TellicoTurning]

One other thing about ebony... it's great wood, need little finish since it's pretty oily to begin with, and you might notice it smells like a wet cow lot after a good rain....

 

[KenV]

I find it best not to have tight fits of fitting with ebony or snakewood - locktite (purple) is my friend with finger friction fittings. I always offer to refinish if either cracks. After refinish, seems to be fine. Snakewood can crack after cutting a board that has set in the garage for 3 years -- I am not sure it ever dries.