Working with Gaboon Ebony

[Craig D Peltier]

I need to make 3/4 x 3/4 strips attached to a table edge up to 49 long. Any tips on working with the stuff? I understand its brittle but machines nice? if I decide to attach it by shooting it with nails in the corners will it split with 18 gauge? Is there a good chance it might deflect due to its density? Does it glue well?
Any tips helpful from whomever has worked with.I bought one piece for $90bd foot an one for $74 less %20 at Rockler.
Thanks

[Montgomery Scott]

The stuff is very brittle and will likely split if you don't have a pilot hole drilled. I use a fair amount of ebony (Gabon, Mun and Nigerian) in segmented turning and have used titebond, weldwood and gorilla glue with success. Also made various pulls for box lids attached with titebond only without failure.

[Brent Smith]

Hi Craig.....I have a bit of experience working with the various ebonies as well. I agree with everything MS mentioned, but will add a bit from my own experiences with Gabon. Nailing it won't be your best method of attachment. I would rather work with a tongue and groove. A piece of Gabon 49" 3/4X3/4" is going to do some rea tricks on you as humidity levels change in the house. You're going to notice it's first freeform art attempt minutes after you machine it to size. One of the things I really like about it, is that it's a joy to work with handtools. So get close to finished size and then do your final sizing with a handplane and you'll appreciate the extra work after finishing. I've never had better success than with titebond on this wood.

[Jim Tobias]

Craig,
As Montgomery and Brent have said, it is brittle but works great with sharp blades. I just used a piece to make a lift handle for a box and routed a
"half bullnose" down both edges and worked from there with hand tools. I have not had any problems with Titebond holding it securely. Have used it a LOT as an edge trim on veneered MDF picture frames and boxes. I usually use the Dark Titebond II.

Jim

[Andrew Hughes]

I also agree with everyone's comments working with ebony.I have cut scraped and sanded a fair amount myself.Take care not to breath the dust it is foul.I found out the hard way.Good luck with your project.

[Russell Sansom]

Also a safety issue, it makes some wicked, wicked splinters.

[William Hamilton]

I've worked with it a few times.. like others have said, wear a mask. The dust is super fine and also an irritant. Another thing I might add is when sanding after joining make sure you vacuum and wipe the area down really well. The dust is so fine it will penetrate the grain of more open grained woods and you wont notice until after finishing and you could get dark streaking. I used an exotic wood epoxy and had no troubles.

[Craig D Peltier]

Hi Craig.....I have a bit of experience working with the various ebonies as well. I agree with everything MS mentioned, but will add a bit from my own experiences with Gabon. Nailing it won't be your best method of attachment. I would rather work with a tongue and groove. A piece of Gabon 49" 3/4X3/4" is going to do some rea tricks on you as humidity levels change in the house. You're going to notice it's first freeform art attempt minutes after you machine it to size. One of the things I really like about it, is that it's a joy to work with handtools. So get close to finished size and then do your final sizing with a handplane and you'll appreciate the extra work after finishing. I've never had better success than with titebond on this wood.

Thanks for tip. Maybe I will spline it on.

[Chris Fournier]

Ebony is pretty precious stuff and I would likely consider ebonizing one of our domestic hardwoods for your application and not bother with the ebony. If you go the ebonizing route you will be able to use nails etc and you'd save a bundle and still have the ebony for accent work or musical instruments where it will earn its keep.

[Brent Smith]

Ebony is pretty precious stuff and I would likely consider ebonizing one of our domestic hardwoods for your application and not bother with the ebony. If you go the ebonizing route you will be able to use nails etc and you'd save a bundle and still have the ebony for accent work or musical instruments where it will earn its keep.
Just my own personal experience and observations, but I've never been successful at substituting ebonized wood for a true piece of Ebony. I just can't get that same sheen and rich finish from it. I'll agree with ebonizing when a large amount of lumber is required, say legs and a table skirt, but for smaller uses as Craig plans I don't see the advantage of doing all the extra work to get an 'almost' replacement.

[Chris Fournier]

Just my own personal experience and observations, but I've never been successful at substituting ebonized wood for a true piece of Ebony. I just can't get that same sheen and rich finish from it. I'll agree with ebonizing when a large amount of lumber is required, say legs and a table skirt, but for smaller uses as Craig plans I don't see the advantage of doing all the extra work to get an 'almost' replacement.

I have certainly gotten better results as the years have gone by. Getting any wood black isn't too tough with aniline dyes. I find that a black paste wax once the finish is on fills the pores, with a bit of shrinkage as the solvent dries and this really helps sell the ebonizing!

It's just my opinion but I think that ebony is too fine and endgangered a wood to be used for edging and quite frankly for any large flat furniture work I think that ebony veneer would be the most appropriate choice over solid wood - as an efficient use of this resource. Ebony is a species on the edge of existence and I really like to see it used wisely.

I am not saying that the OP is committing a crime or mistake, but given our ability to design what we build I tend to spend a fair bit of time evaluating the use of such an expensive and rare material. "Can I get the effect of ebony using a more plentiful and inexpensive species?" Most often the answer is yes.

I would like to think that the next generations of woodworkers and instrument builders will still have the choice to work with ebonies and rosewoods because inpart I was careful about their use in my shop - in small part but every effort helps.

[Harvey Pascoe]

The poster said he already bought the ebony, so its a done deal. I use a lot of ebony of all types and concur, no problem gluing but I certainly wouldn't nail it, or use it for edging on something as large as a table, but if you must T&G would be the way to go. If you dye a lighter wood, any dings or chips on the edge are going to show if you use a lighter wood, so dying a very hard wood would be best.

Chris, I would concur with you about endangered species, but the thing is the trees have already been cut down and somebody is going to use the wood. Plus, it is nearly impossible to stop the poaching. Rare woods are going to go extinct regardless of our fine sentiments since no third world government has any decent export controls except Costa Rica.

[Chris Fournier]

The poster said he already bought the ebony, so its a done deal. I use a lot of ebony of all types and concur, no problem gluing but I certainly wouldn't nail it, or use it for edging on something as large as a table, but if you must T&G would be the way to go. If you dye a lighter wood, any dings or chips on the edge are going to show if you use a lighter wood, so dying a very hard wood would be best.

Chris, I would concur with you about endangered species, but the thing is the trees have already been cut down and somebody is going to use the wood. Plus, it is nearly impossible to stop the poaching. Rare woods are going to go extinct regardless of our fine sentiments since no third world government has any decent export controls except Costa Rica.

Agreed but if the trees are cut down then all the more reason to use "our inventory" wisely. Having dealt with exotic timber trading I can say that while not 100% effective, when a species is targeted to be protected, organisations such as CITIES http://www.cites.org do have an effect.

While I may only be the little boy with his finger in the dam, it has to be done.

[glenn bradley]

This is pretty well covered. I will just add my agreements:
+1 on a mask
+1 on a spline for attachment
+1 on Titebond working well but I epoxy pulls on larger drawer or lids (they're pulls)
+1 on hand tooling to final size

Oh, and double +1 on I love this stuff.

[Craig D Peltier]

Thanks for all the tips. I will post piucs when done in a couple months. It will be mahogany top, padouk oval inlay with string inlay around the oval. Then the ebony edge strips. One end table and one coffee table.