The problem most people have with ebony is that it has never been kiln dried. It's cut overseas, waxed and shipped to the States green. Then it is delivered to the customer still green.
We are all familiar with the old saying. Air dying wood takes 1 year per inch. Ebony is so dense that it can take years for 1 inch to dry. We recently cut an ebony billet that we know to be sitting for 18 years. It was 3" thick and the center still measured 26% MC.
The reason ebony cracks on a pen barrel is the wood has been turned thin enough for the wood to dry and the wood cells finally collapses and shrinks.
Kiln drying ebony is very difficult and near impossible in a conventional kiln. The heat needed to get ebony to dry is too high, causing it to crack in the kiln
To solve this problem we use a very large vacuum kiln. Remember your old high science class? Water boils at a lower temperature in a vacuum.
In our kiln, with temperatures of 140°, the water starts to steam out of the wood, the cells collapse, and we end up with very stable ebony.
Case in point, quality made violins, cellos, bass fiddles and guitars use ebony fingerboards. There is no finish applied to the fingerboards and you will never see a cracked fingerboard on a properly cared for instrument. Why? because the ebony has been kiln dried to 6% to 8% MC.