Macassar Ebony

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limited60

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I have heard horror stories about using Ebony for pens....and that pens made from this material fall into 2 categories:
1. Those that have broken
2. Those that will break


I'm interested in using Macassar Ebony for an Emperor or Statesman and don't want it to fall into the above categories after I have sold it.

Can anybody advise me on the longevity of Macassar Ebony and maybe the ins and outs of Ebonies in general for pen construction.


Thanks
 
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the real question is when, it will be cracked when a customer points to it and tells you how much she likes it you will pick it up and it will fall apart in your hands making you look foolish. I use blackwood for all the dark turning wood i use and never have any problems with it Howard
 
I've heard Macassar ebony is the most stable of the ebonies. I made a sketch pencil from cross-cut macassar about 4 years ago and it hasn't cracked at all. It may have helped that there is a fairly thick amount of wood left on the tubes, I've had thinner walled pens crack more easily than thicker.
 
In my ignorance as a new turner, I had made a cigar out of what was at the time a very wet gabon ebony. The top split straight down through the whole barrel, the bottom didn't budge. I've had a couple of other woods that were too wet split at the thickest part, not the thinnest. I think the thinnest part is subject to splitting while turning and sanding, but the thickest is subject to splitting b/c of moisture/movement. I know that emperor is thick on the bottom and real thin on the top, so you just make sure your mac. ebony is bone dry before you start messing with it. Should make a nice pen though.
 
I've used Macassar ebony for a few years and have not had a problem. Gabon ebony is another story. . .
 
I too have some mac. ebony and have never worked with it b/c of my bad experience w/ gabon ebony. If everyone's experience is that mac. ebony is much more friendly I may have to give it another look.
 
I have some of it in my shop, and I have made about 4-5 pens with it...in fact, I'm about to make another one. I have never had one of the come back to me.

IIRC the dust was REALLY irritating my skin and respiratory system on the last one.
 
I think I may just turn it on a spare set of Emperor Tubes I have laying around. I'll let it sit in its finished state for a while, exposed to the temp fluctuations we have in Canada and see what plays out.
 
ehickey said:
I have some of it in my shop, and I have made about 4-5 pens with it...in fact, I'm about to make another one. I have never had one of the come back to me.

IIRC the dust was REALLY irritating my skin and respiratory system on the last one.
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Use a DC hood and that'll help with that. Ebony is a sensitizer which is really nasty esp. the more you work with it. It's the kind of irritant that gives you worse symptoms the more you're exposed to it, so it's only going to affect you more and more until you just can't work it anymore....get a DC, use a fan to blow the dust away, use a Triton, whatever you have to. That stuff can really mess you up. Same with anything in the Dalbergia family (Zircote, Cocobolo, Tulipwood, Kingwood, etc.)
 
I have had great results with the mac. ebony, mun ebony and black/white ebony. The gaboon ebony has mixed results. I try and keep the heat down while sanding and finishing by not getting to carried away.
 
twoofakind said:
I have had great results with the mac. ebony, mun ebony and black/white ebony. The gaboon ebony has mixed results. I try and keep the heat down while sanding and finishing by not getting to carried away.
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Instead of gabon ebony use african blackwood....it looks almost identical and is MUCH more stable.
 
I agree with the others - African Blackwood is much easier to work with and more stable.

The only issue I have with black woods in general is that the black really really shows ANY defect - magnified twice as much as any other wood.
 
I'm just curious, what kind of ebony are piano keys made of? I just took a quick glance on the web and couldn't find any info, but my guess is it's Gabon, because the others aren't pure black. Maybe it's because we turn them thin, but I've had one of Ken's Piano pen kits for a few years, and it hasn't flinched. I've made several pens out of various ebonies, and don't remember a failure of any kind. And there are pianos that have been around for hundreds of years with the same ebony keys, so it must be pretty tough.

Then again, it's so dry here in Colorado that everything I work with is dry-myself included! I wonder if like Brian said wet wood caused some of his problems and that may be the root of it.

I'd be interested in what Ebony piano keys ARE made of if anyone knows for sure.

Dale
 
I've got a box with about 20 pieces of Macassar 14" long 3/4" square. The first blank I cut out of it I turned round without drilling and is split near in two with in a few days. It is now waiting in the turn sometime in a couple years pile. It's beautiful wood but I think it was dried in a pond or river before I got it.
 
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