Sheumais
Member
Question for those more skilled than myself (which should be plenty of you).
I have tried doing pens using Macasser ebony (twice), black&white ebony (once), and gaboon ebony (three times). In EVERY case, the wood has CRACKED. It always happens between a day and 2 days AFTER turning out the pen and putting it in my portfolio. It's outright embarrassing when a potential customer is checking out your wares and finds a cracked pen that you didn't know was cracked.
In all but one case, I turned the blanks out using freshly sharpened or honed tools. I do my turning with the ebony at about 1080 RPM, and all my cuts are fairly light, especially the finishing cuts. I used the Hut PPP wax for the finish in every case (I like how it buffs to a glorious shine, so I keep using it).
Can anyone give me some pointers on how to turn ebony and have it survive? I'm currently sitting on a Civil War kit for a commissioned job. The client wanted an ebony body; I chose Macasser to lower the final price slightly, and because I love the lines I get from it. I'd like to do this pen before I deploy in 2 weeks, WITHOUT it cracking on me... as it has already done once, with b&w ebony.
I have tried doing pens using Macasser ebony (twice), black&white ebony (once), and gaboon ebony (three times). In EVERY case, the wood has CRACKED. It always happens between a day and 2 days AFTER turning out the pen and putting it in my portfolio. It's outright embarrassing when a potential customer is checking out your wares and finds a cracked pen that you didn't know was cracked.
In all but one case, I turned the blanks out using freshly sharpened or honed tools. I do my turning with the ebony at about 1080 RPM, and all my cuts are fairly light, especially the finishing cuts. I used the Hut PPP wax for the finish in every case (I like how it buffs to a glorious shine, so I keep using it).
Can anyone give me some pointers on how to turn ebony and have it survive? I'm currently sitting on a Civil War kit for a commissioned job. The client wanted an ebony body; I chose Macasser to lower the final price slightly, and because I love the lines I get from it. I'd like to do this pen before I deploy in 2 weeks, WITHOUT it cracking on me... as it has already done once, with b&w ebony.