Ebony

[Ron Brese]

In my search for ebony billets to use as infill materials, I am finding it increasingly difficult to locate material of sufficient size. Recently Mike Wenzloff gave me a lead that resulted in finding this stash of ebony. I payed dearly for this material but when it came to the shop today I was quite pleased when I unpacked these boards and had my first look at this material that I had purchased site unseen.

Thanks for the help Mike W.

[Mike Henderson]

It's available in this area - good black stuff - at about $65/bd ft. I have a stash of thin pieces a retiring woodworker gave me. Probably more than I'll even use but nice to have.

Mike

[Brian Kent]

How big are those pieces, Ron?

[Ron Brese]

Brian,

The size is the problem when seeking out pieces if this nature. Ebony is easily available until you start seeking out pieces in these size ranges. All these billets are 2.25" thick and range from 5 to 5.875 wide and the two long ones are approximately 36" long with the shorter one being 19.5" long. One typically needs at least 5" on the width for the height of the rear tote and that's the dimension that is much harder to come by. Like most hardwood the price tends to go up exponentially when you request thicker pieces, ebony is no exception to this rule, in fact it is the extreme of this rule.

Ron

[Charles Shenk]

MacBeath hardwoods in San francisco CA has a ton of Gabon Ebony in all sizes. They sell it by the pound. I forget how much but I picked up a piece about 4" x 5" x 5' for about a hundred. I bought mine to use for guitar fingerboards. I think the Macassar Ebony would be a visually pleasing wood since it is more colorful than Gabon.

[Brent Smith]

MacBeath hardwoods in San francisco CA has a ton of Gabon Ebony in all sizes. They sell it by the pound. I forget how much but I picked up a piece about 4" x 5" x 5' for about a hundred. I bought mine to use for guitar fingerboards. I think the Macassar Ebony would be a visually pleasing wood since it is more colorful than Gabon.

If my calculations are right, that comes out to $12 a BF :eek:. Do you have some contact info for these guys ??!!!

[Mike K Wenzloff]

http://macbeath.com/

Mike

[Brent Smith]

Thanks Mike. Interesting site, but they're quoting $70.20 per BF, more in line with what we pay up here.

[Tristan Raymond]

There was an error there somewhere. I like MacBeath, they have a great selection and reasonable prices, but not that reasonable.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...but they're quoting $70.20 per BF..."

I have bought quite a bit of ebony from MacBeath over the years and I don't want to tell you how old I was when it was $12.00 a BF!

You might also want to call Gilmer. They might have billets in the size you need.
http://www.gilmerwood.com/

[Doug Shepard]

Ron
Don't forget eBay. There's an occasional deal there to be had. The stuff I sent you that you built my small smoother from was bought on the Bay. $80-something for around 2.6 BF IIRC. Don't think my piece was quite wide enough for your smoother totes though.

[Steve knight]

the biggest problem with ebony is finding it dry. it's critical to be fully acclimatised to the location. this is critical if you want to not get checking and wood failure later on. You need a pinless mete that can read at least 1/2 the way through the wood to be sure. but even then it should be sitting around for years. Gaboon ebony is not all that stable to begin with. cocobolo is just as bad the inside likes to stay wetter then the outside.

[Lee Hingle]

the biggest problem with ebony is finding it dry. it's critical to be fully acclimatised to the location. this is critical if you want to not get checking and wood failure later on. You need a pinless mete that can read at least 1/2 the way through the wood to be sure. but even then it should be sitting around for years. Gaboon ebony is not all that stable to begin with. cocobolo is just as bad the inside likes to stay wetter then the outside.

There you go, Ron. You heard Steve. Sounds like this woods not gonna be safe to use. Go ahead and pack it up and send it my way, so if there is a problem with it I can let you know. PM me for my shipping address. I would post it here, but then everyone would be sending me their unsafe exotics, and this is just a friendly offer to you because I like you so much.

Cheers,
Lee

[Steve knight]

There you go, Ron. You heard Steve. Sounds like this woods not gonna be safe to use. Go ahead and pack it up and send it my way, so if there is a problem with it I can let you know. PM me for my shipping address. I would post it here, but then everyone would be sending me their unsafe exotics, and this is just a friendly offer to you because I like you so much.

Cheers,
Lee

And you think you have the tools and license to handle it correctly? I doubt it.

[Alan DuBoff]

And you think you have the tools and license to handle it correctly? I doubt it.
For some people, ambition can be the strongest motivator.

Nice tone on your message. :confused:

[Charles Shenk]

I was just looking for the receipt with no luck. It was something like $20 per pound. I know it wasn't in the $30's. Can't comment on the website price. I visited the SF store about a year ago and they had it in the store front, in a bin to the right of the business counter. All sizes but quite a few large pieces which caught my eye. As a guitar player who's building his first acoustic, I thought the price at the time was good and so I bought it thinking this stuff isn't getting any more readily available, especially the perfectly black stuff, which is what the guitar players want. I probably will never need it all but it is nice to have and it has trade value with some builders I know.

I will keep looking for the receipt. :cool:

[Charles Shenk]

Found it. My memory sux. I bought 24 lb for 10.13 per pound on 1/31/08 still not bad. about $30 per board foot?

[Lee Hingle]

And you think you have the tools and license to handle it correctly? I doubt it.



The post was meant as a joke, with no disrespect towards you. I have a personal friendship with Ron, and I have one of his planes (800-225). In fact, I have serial #001.

Rest assured, I do not have one of your planes, and never will with the attitude you possess not to mention the shoddy business practices you have.

Good day,

Lee Hingle

[Dave Anderson NH]

All right gentlemen, let's act as such and back away from this. No further comments will be tolerated from either party.

[Doug Shepard]

I notice a number of places have African Blackwood in larger sizes than most ebony that you see. I've never worked with the stuff. How does that compare to Gabon ebony?

[Steve knight]

The post was meant as a joke, with no disrespect towards you. I have a personal friendship with Ron, and I have one of his planes (800-225). In fact, I have serial #001.

Rest assured, I do not have one of your planes, and never will with the attitude you possess not to mention the shoddy business practices you have.

Good day,

Lee Hingle
so was mine. it was a negative joke. a license to own and handle ebony? come on how you thought I was serious?

[Lee Hingle]

OK, you got me.

My apologies to Dave - and the forum - for lashing out at you.

Lee

[Steve knight]

I should have put a smiley myself and forgot. but it would not have worked as well.

[Steve knight]

I notice a number of places have African Blackwood in larger sizes than most ebony that you see. I've never worked with the stuff. How does that compare to Gabon ebony?
I like it better myself more stable and drier. but it can cost even more in larger sizes then ebony does.

[Ron Brese]

So far I have been lucky enough to find ebony that was quite old and dry, however I still watch it closely and have a schedule to check the moisture content on a regular basis, noting changes and fluctuations. When one goes to fit wood into a metal plane body it requires being able to work this material within thousandths to get an appropriate fit and having confidence in the state of the material you are using is a must.

Ron

[Ron Brese]

Lee,

I appreciate the offer, but given the effort I've put in finding this stuff and having it shipped in from the West Coast, I think I'll stick it out on this one and see if I can salvage some planes from this old firewood. (grin)

Besides if I sent it to Mississippi (did I spell that right) it would probably just pick up some of that moisture that Ike's been spreading around down there.

I have a nice dehumidified environment where I keep new additions of timber for a while just to see if it fluctuates. I'll be watching these billets closely over the next several weeks. If they're still wet inside they'll show a change within 3 weeks, if not then they're probably pretty dry. If they do show a change then they will go in the not ready stack and will continue to be monitored until they meets certain criteria that involves time span and moisture content change or lack of moisture content change.


Ron Brese

[Ron Petley]

I have bought wod from here:
http://www.gilmerwood.com/boards_ebony_unique.htm
Very good service and you get to see the exact board you are ordering.
Cheers Ron

[Brian Kent]

I'm seeking wood right now for an infill smoother. Cocobolo is #1 choice. I had a piece of Quina, but when I scraped off the wax it cracked all over one side.

My other cocobolo project used a piece that had sat in the shop for a year. Is it likely I would have to plan ahead that far?

Reel lumber is looking for thicker cocobolo for me. They do have some nice 8/4 in stock for about $27/bf. I could do the sides of the tote as separate pieces and glue the knob horizontally where the contour changes sharply.:rolleyes:

[Steve knight]

I had more plane failures with cocobolo and ebony then all my other woods combined.
the problem with cocobolo is the inside may not dry as fast as the rest. so unless your meter can read that deep you never know. you can trim an end off and see if it checks after a bit.

[Brian Kent]

What kind of woods would you recommend for an infill smoother if not cocobolo or ebony?

[Steve knight]

just about anything but those two (G) well they are better in infills then glued up in a krenov style plane. once acclimated they are fine but you need to be sure. most of the wood you buy now is not dry enough when your looking at the above two.
purpleheart is great and polishes well. bloodwood is really good bubinga too wenge is good. most woods work fine.

[Brian Kent]

I'll look into the bloodwood and bubinga and see if I can get thicker pieces. Thank you for the advice.

[Charles Shenk]

Why not less expensive woods with a lead weight inside somewhere to create mass? Does the ebony improve planing performance?

[Alan DuBoff]

I don't know how difficult ebony is to work with, as I have only used some small chunks, but I will say that I wouldn't hesitate to have Ron make a plane for me. His work looks excellent, and he seems like a top notch business man. Honest pricing on quality work, and he appears to deliver.

Personally I think the ebony looks excellent in the infills. Whether it's rocket science or not to work with, I can't say, but results speak for themselves.

Ron must just be lucky...some guys have all the luck! :)

http://www.breseplane.com/DSC01646.jpg

http://www.breseplane.com/DSC01470.jpg