My ebony Wall street pen SPLIT!

[jbmauser]

If I had any doubts about leaving friction wax the shock at seeing the blank split end to end makes it a galvanized experience. I stopped by the Art Studio that offers my pens. I was surprised to see the Ebony still there. It had worked up nicely and looked fine. I picked it up and inspected it for shop dings or such and almost missed it as the opening was just proud of the clip. It had split end to end in a straight line like it was saw cut. I when I pulled at the pen, the blank came free of the tube as well. I use Epoxy and there was a 80% or so cover on the sanded tube. I don't understand how it could shrink and split so much it would release the bond to the tube as well. Perhaps CA finish would prevent this. Live and learn. Ebony ain't cheap as you all know. JB

 

[TellicoTurning]

Some will tell you there are two types of ebony pens... those that have cracked and those that will crack... the CA finish might help, but the biggest enemy to ebony (I think and this only my opinion) is heat... I sold some pens to a gallery that put the pens in a lighted case.. showed them of beautifully, but there was no vent for the heat from the lights... 4 pens crack in the case... 2 were ebony and 2 were antler.... I fixed the pens because I'm friends with the owner and he bought a lot of my turnings.

 

[its_virgil]

Yep, ebony is a cracker. I like african blackwood much better.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

It had split end to end in a straight line like it was saw cut. Ebony ain't cheap as you all know. JB

 

[leehljp]

CA prevent it? - No, it won't prevent it. Nature is far more powerful on the molecular level of movement in relationship to heat and humidity changes than one would believe.

Some ebonies have more oil than others, and I imagine that the oil in the blank weakened the adhesion. Once weak and humidity changes entered in between the blank and tube, it burst.


While this is not generally a problem with pens, - pens with "tubes and wood" have two things of nature against it. Metal expands and contracts with temp changes (and of course at different rates than wood); wood expands and contracts with humidity changes more than temp changes but temp changes do affect it some, IIRC. With metal pushing one way with temp changes and humidity pushing the other, Ebonies ( as a few other woods) are subject to a double whammy.

 

[fernhills]

I know how you feel. It always is some of your best work, to.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Man that sucks. I haven't tried ebony yet but after reading so much about it, I probably won't either.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Man that sucks. I haven't tried ebony yet but after reading so much about it, I probably won't either.

If you do need a black wood for a pen, use the African Blackwood... it's not always a pure black like a good ebony, but it's more stable and does make a fabulous pen.

 

[islandturner]

If you do need a black wood for a pen, use the African Blackwood... it's not always a pure black like a good ebony, but it's more stable and does make a fabulous pen.

For the past couple of hundred years, African Blackwood has traditionally been the wood used for manufacturing Scottish bagpipes.

There is no greater punishment for wood than what bagpipes are exposed to -- from weeks or months, drying in a warm low RH room, to several hours of warm 100% RH air (ie 'breath'). They are played outdoors in every conceivable weather from hot and dry, freezing and dry, to warm or cold 100 RH, etc. If Blackwood can survive that treatment, it will probably last forever as a pen...!

 

[Bree]

If you do need a black wood for a pen, use the African Blackwood... it's not always a pure black like a good ebony, but it's more stable and does make a fabulous pen.

You can always "ebonize" by treating the wood with some "vinegaroon". Woods like Oak with high tannin content ebonize very well. Others can be kicked up in ther tannin content using some quebracho bark (very high tannin content) which you can get at Van Dykes Taxidermy.

The vinegaroon is the result of letting some iron like nails or steel wool sit in some vinegar for a week or so and reacting with the acetic acid forming ferric acetate. The tannins in conjunction with the ferric acetate acting as a mordant create a deep blue black.

We use it with leather to dye the leather black throughout the hide. Good on belts and gunleather. It works with wood too.
:wink::wink::wink:

 

[TellicoTurning]

You can always "ebonize" by treating the wood with some "vinegaroon". Woods like Oak with high tannin content ebonize very well. Others can be kicked up in ther tannin content using some quebracho bark (very high tannin content) which you can get at Van Dykes Taxidermy.

The vinegaroon is the result of letting some iron like nails or steel wool sit in some vinegar for a week or so and reacting with the acetic acid forming ferric acetate. The tannins in conjunction with the ferric acetate acting as a mordant create a deep blue black.

We use it with leather to dye the leather black throughout the hide. Good on belts and gunleather. It works with wood too.
:wink::wink::wink:

I turned a block of quebracho a while back.. talk about a hard wood....wow.

The vinegaroon is the result of letting some iron like nails or steel wool sit in some vinegar for a week or so and reacting with the acetic acid forming ferric acetate.

What is the ratio of vinegar to steel wool.. or is there a ration to create the ferric acetate?