Tips for working ebony

[Bill Brush]

I have never worked with ebony before, and I was hoping to pick up some tips.

I happened across a nice chunk of ebony at a gun show and I want to make it into a knife handle.

So what kind of challenges am I in for?

[Greg Book]

The bad side of ebony is that it can easily chip and crack. But the good side is that is actually pretty nice to work with. It can hold an edge better than any wood I've used before. I made a set of dominoes from Gabon ebony, and it worked out very well. It took white paint and a coat of polyurethane just fine.

[Prashun Patel]

It requires really sharp tools. The one time I used it, it looked like it had little fine grains of a a silica type substance in there. I had to resharpen often. It was hard to get shavings from my planes or spokeshaves. It generated a lot of dust. It was almost like working fine stone.

The best tool I used was a coarse tooth rasp for shaping.

[george wilson]

Ebony does dull your tools due to minerals in it. African blackwood,a kind of rosewood,was preferred in the 19th.C. for turning because it isn't so dulling of tools.

[Shiraz Balolia]

I have never worked with ebony before, and I was hoping to pick up some tips.

I happened across a nice chunk of ebony at a gun show and I want to make it into a knife handle.

So what kind of challenges am I in for?


I use a lot of Ebony in guitar building. It is one of my favorite woods because of the way it finishes.

Yes, you need sharp tools and it will dull your tools with extended use. The good thing is that if you have a damage or tearout, you can fix it so that even you will not be able to tell where it was chipped or cracked. Save the powder from sanding - that way you can mix it with your glue and fill in voids etc. I use a buffer to polish the ebony after sanding to 600 or 800 grit. You will have an incredible finish.

[David Helm]

Shiraz, nice to see you get to reply on a non-Grizzly question.

[John Coloccia]

Ditto what everyone says. I personally sand my fretboards to about 600 grit, and then I buff them. The finish of just the raw, buffed wood is amazing when you see it in person. As others have said, be sure you're tools are sharp or you will have lots of problems. Also, be careful if you drive a rivet or or fastener through it. It would be very easy to chip/crack it if you don't pre-drill the hole to the right dimension. Before you drill and drive the fastener, test on a scrap piece to make sure you have the right size hole. Be especially careful if you're peening it on.

[glenn bradley]

I lean toward G&G stuff so ebony is a must. Machines very well. Can be delicate. Sharp tools a must; I just keep my sharpening stuff out while working so I can touch up as I go. Sand to 600 and then buff with compound. Looks great.

[george wilson]

Several years ago I was asked to repair an ebony walking cane with a long,square spike in it for self defense. The cane had broken down the middle. Some fool glued it back together with WHITE EPOXY. Don't some people have the faintest glimmer of intelligence?

After I managed to soak the epoxy off,I repaired it with epoxy mixed with lamp black. Then,I sanded it smooth,and rubbed it with very fine steel wool and wax. It was impossible to see the repair(unless someone in the future buffed the stick).

[Peter Quinn]

Take small bites with sharp knives and tools, take light passes in planers and sanders, and don't sniff the dust it makes. Aside from being very brittle its very hard and dense, so go easy.

Also, avoid oxidizing oil based finishes. I too like the wax and buff the best. We tried to follow a finishing schedule for some Macassar ebony at work that involved a dark oil stain to even out the color and waterlox XL-88 as a sealer, followed by a water based top coat. Well, the oils in the ebony are antioxidants, and the oils are found in varying concentrations on the woods surface, so it can create havoc with oil based finishes that rely on oxidation. Some areas just refused to dry and cure, and kept bubbling and peeling. Big mess best avoided.