Ebony Pens?

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BigRob777

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Does Ebony Gaboon make good pens? I don't seem to see too many of them around these here parts. I just got a load of ebony and want to know if it is worth cutting pen blanks out of the larger blocks. PLease don't bid on these items, as I save the best for you guys, but here is a link that shows my Ebony Gaboon. Can I use brown Ebony, and the gray grained stuff in the middle of the picture of the knife scale auction? I haven't been holding out on you guys by not trying to sell blanks here. I just want to establish something first, with this great group. I have learned so much and met such nice people, I didn't want to mess that up. I saw how one "troller" was treated in the AAWoodturners. One guy was really brutal. Anyway, I just wanted some opinions about the gaboon. I have to go through it tomorrow. I've been putting off planting the garden and it is almost too late, so it may have to wait another day. I should have some good input from this great assembly of minds by then.
:Dhttp://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZfiguredwoods:D
Thanks for your support and encouragement. By the way, the bolivian rosewood rash is mostly cleared up. Thanks for your advice, empathy and concern.
Figgy
 
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Rob, do a search and you'll see that most people have problems with it cracking after a while (in many cases, WEEKS after the blanks are turned into pens). I'd be interested in picking some up to try anyway (much like I hope to pick up some snakewood despite it having a similar reputation), and if I don't use it for pens I have some other plans for it. So, please do post it here! (just wait 'till the beginning of next month...already spent my $$$ for this month! [:D])
 
Ebony does make nice pens, but is prone to cracking if not taken care of. Good quality nigerian or gaboon ebony has zero grain and looks more like plastic than wood, until you look very closely. It is better in my opinion to use a good figured wood.
 
Barter, my friend! Tell me what you'v got that will blow my socks off and maybe we cn put together a trade. If not, ('ll try to set a few aside for ya. Anybody heard from that low48 salesman ? I asked for the last of the osage orange and two people bid after me I don't know if I'll get what I adked for which was 46. Wow, I keep falling asleep on the keyboard ,so a must get sleep. 2 hours a night just over. Night all![|)][|)][|)][|)][|)][|)][|)][|)][|)][|)][|)][|)]
 
Here is a good discussion on Ebony. For some reason it was started in the Suggestions forum:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5163

Fangar
 
I made two pens out of ebony and they looked just like plastic. You could see no grain and I had too much shine on them. Of course they didn't sell and a couple of months later I noticed a crack in one, and then the other. I parted them off and started over with other kinds wood.
 
I pretty much stick to using Ebony as an accent. They also seem to get sticky after a time if you use regular friction polish. I have had one crack also. The blank was bone dry when I turned it.
 
Rob,
I've ordered from low_48 (Rich) in the past, and actually have an order pending with him. He can be a little slow to ship some times (think he goes off on hunting expeditions for new wood with that massive chain saw of his), but the wood is worth the wait. In my experience, the wood is usually very good, and is always at least as good as the pictures.

Hope this helps!
-----
EDIT:
Just saw this note from Rich:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6303
 
Tom (Smoky10), what kind of glue did you use with the Ebony? What kind of kit was it? Did you drill to the recommended size, or do you usually drill slightly oversized holes? There was a discussion recently that had me thinking about this, and I'd like to find out more about how people handle Ebony, Pink Ivory, Snakewood, and the like.
 
I have made a couple of pens that were half ebony and they have not come back to me but all the talk about it cracking has me leary of making another pen from it.
 
I have made pens with ebony upper barrels, which are thicker. There is a pic in my album.

I ream the tube with a D size drill bit, so it does not have to expand much when inserting the finial. The barrel is drilled slightly bigger than usual, and I use 5 Min epoxy.

5 Min epoxy is different from the 30 min type, in that it does not harden completely, it remains somewhat flexible. It acts as a little cushion between the tube and the wood.
 
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