Gabon Ebony finish recomendations

[Heirloom Woodturnings]

I have a cigar pen that I'm making with some Gabon ebony. The real dark stuff........... I've read that many of the denser oily woods can be simply sanded down to a very fine grit and then lightly oiled.
I've used friction polish before on woods like African black wood and cocobolo with acceptable results.

This particular ebony dosent seem to be as oily as I had expected though. It actually seemed to produce rather dry shavings and did not "load" up the drill flutes as I was drilling.

Any recomendations for Gabon Ebony finishing?? I have friction polish, ren wax and CA available in the shop right now....... What would your choice be?

 

[Fred in NC]

Heat from drillilng, sanding, and friction finishes can lead to cracking. You might not even notice it until after hours or days later. So in my opinion, friction polish is out.

The ebony pen in my album was sealed with shellac after 400, sanded through the grits, and finished with MinWax PolyCrylic gloss. About 4 coats. They have it at Walmart and the hardware stores.

With oily woods, I usuall remove the surface oil with DNA, and apply shellac as a sealer. Just about any kind of finish can be applied on top of the shellac after it is dry.

 

[Gary]

Although I haven't used Gabon Ebony in a pen, I've used it a lot over the years in some of the jewelry boxes I've made. It is a very dense even-grained wood so it's a good idea to sand it to the higher grits (at least #400). I've used lacquer on it with great success, and that's what I will use if I make a pen from it.

 

[its_virgil]

Pick up some "no crack" cream at the drugstore. Maybe it will help the as well on the wood as it does on my hands. I've stopped using ebony because of the crasking problems. May just be me.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by Gary
<br />Although I haven't used Gabon Ebony in a pen, I've used it a lot over the years in some of the jewelry boxes I've made. It is a very dense even-grained wood so it's a good idea to sand it to the higher grits (at least #400). I've used lacquer on it with great success, and that's what I will use if I make a pen from it.