Ebony spline for mitered cherry serving tray

[James Hardee]

I have made a cherry serving tray and am thinking about using ebony splines in the mitered corners. I've never worked with ebony before. Once the splines are glued in place, I'll have to trim them with a flush cut saw. I've read that ebony is almost impossible to sand by hand. I would appreciate any advise on how the smooth the splines after gluing and also what pittfalls should be avoided.
Thanks

[Mike Henderson]

I've worked with ebony a fair amount and it works like any other hard wood. You can cut it, sand it. etc. about the same as maple, for example. Maybe just a bit harder than maple but not bad.

I sand it by machine and by hand. Usually use a ROS on it first and then finish with hand sanding with fine sandpaper (150 and 220).

You need to look at the ebony hard before you use it and see if there are any splits in the wood. If you have problems, a bit of epoxy mixed with black powdered dye can be used to repair it. By the time you put a finish on it, you'll never be able to tell what is epoxy and what is ebony. For small "inlay" details, I'll use epoxy with powdered black dye, especially where sharp curves are required.

Mike

[Andrew Hughes]

Be a little bit careful about sanding Ebony right next to Cherry.Sometimes ebonys dust will stain other wood esp Maple.
It can be tricky finishing ebony right next to other woods too.
Shellac has alcohol and will drag the oils from ebony into other woods.
In the past I've used a file to flush Ebony.Then a card scraper to finish.
If you plan on spraying then the finish part is handled.

[Mike Henderson]

Andrew makes a very good point. If you use a ROS with a vacuum attached, it will do a lot to prevent the spread of the ebony dust. A lot depends on the wood next to the ebony. A close grain wood, such as maple, will give you less problems than an open grain wood. But as Andrew points out, a light colored wood (like maple) shows the ebony dust more than a dark wood, such as walnut.

Mike

[Andrew Hughes]

I wonder if cherry will pick up the dust?Maybe it will depend on how fine your sanding.
I think Mike is right about walnut it's probably the best choice.
Anyways let know how it goes James.

[Al Weber]

I've used ebony splines on cherry and the concerns over embedding ebony sanding dust in cherry are correct. You can get it out but with difficulty. I normally level everything with a chisel or occasionally a small block plane depending on grain. Ebony splits very easily so use care and then fix any with epoxy as noted above.

[glenn bradley]

All good data above except the info from whoever told you that ebony is tough to work ;-) It does have definite characteristics but, it is very workable. I would pre-finish your cherry piece before adding the ebony. This along with leveling with a chisel or small block plane will help you keep a crisp clean line where the woods meet. Your final topcoat(s) should bring it all together.

[Prashun Patel]

I would use a plane or scraper.

[Sean Troy]

Wipe the Ebony down with Acetone before glue up. It's very oily and glue has problems unless wiped down before.

[Chris Fournier]

I've used an awful lot of ebony and I have never had a problem gluing it just like any domestic hardwood or sanding it as such. Ebony is not oily, it is hard and does require sharp tools.

In the OP's application I cannot see how you could possibly scrape an ebony spline in a cherry mitre with a satisfactory outcome. Scraping end grain is not really a good idea, scraping ebony end grain surrounded by cherry is a bad idea. I would predict terrible gouging as the scraper struggles on the ebony end grain and digs into the cherry flat grain.

I like to file ebony sometimes. However you could chamfer the back edge of the spline to prevent blowout and use a sharp block plane to get it flush as well, just requires a bit more skill.

Good luck!

[Prashun Patel]

I'll defer to your experience, Chris if you have used a lot of ebony. However, on a rocker I built, I scraped and planed the ebony plugs in my dowels.

I have found ebony to work like stone and frankly saw little difference between the end and face grain. It worked fine for me.

[Sean Troy]

I've used an awful lot of ebony and I have never had a problem gluing it just like any domestic hardwood or sanding it as such. Ebony is not oily, it is hard and does require sharp tools.

In the OP's application I cannot see how you could possibly scrape an ebony spline in a cherry mitre with a satisfactory outcome. Scraping end grain is not really a good idea, scraping ebony end grain surrounded by cherry is a bad idea. I would predict terrible gouging as the scraper struggles on the ebony end grain and digs into the cherry flat grain.

I like to file ebony sometimes. However you could chamfer the back edge of the spline to prevent blowout and use a sharp block plane to get it flush as well, just requires a bit more skill.

Good luck!
Depends which Ebony you are using. If it's a true Ebony (Gaboon) or (Cylon) it is somewhat oily. Now a days, you see people calling any blackwood Ebony.