Ebony Questions and Look a Likes?

[richard poitras]

Ebony Questions and look a likes?

I have been interested in doing some Green and Green furniture with ebony plugs and splines.
The questions are as follows:

1. Where is the best place to by Gabon Ebony in ¼’ and 3/8’’ thick small boards?
2. What is a reasonable price one should pay for Ebony?
3. Are there any similar woods that are jet black in color as is Ebony and can be substituted for these small accents and still look good in the project?
4. Has anyone tried to stain or die alternative woods to have them work for the Green and Green accents and have them work out to a high quality substitution for Ebony?


Thanks Richard

[Chris Schumann]

1. My local Rockler has Gabon ebony in stock. I'd try a local lumber yard. They'd be happy to order some for you.
2. Ebony can go for $70 to $100 per bdft. Ohh! Check eBay too.
3. African blackwood is the only other naturally black wood I know of, and also seen at my local Rockler.
4. You can stain anything black before assembly. There's also ebonzing, using a chemical made with steel and vinegar. Walnut works well, I've read. Never tried.

BTW, Rockler usually has ebony scraps for $2 each. They're big enough to make half a pen out of, or a small name plate. They could be great for accents.

[Allen Koriakin]

Richard, I just bought some ebony at woodcraft. I've never purchased it before but I knew it was going to be expensive. The piece I purchased is approximately 1.75 by 1.75 by 16 inches and I paid 30 bucks for it! I used a coupon for 10 dollars off any purchase which made me feel not so violated while I was leaving the store. I'm including a link that goes into some great detail on how to make the plugs for you Greene and Greene style furniture. Good Luck with the project and post some pictures when you're done.
http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/ChicoWoodnut/blog/5921

[Mark Carlson]

I love Green and Green too. I bought about a dozen ebony pen blanks from rockler or woodcraft a couple of years ago. This size works well for accents and it will last me a long time.

~mark

[glenn bradley]

My local lumber yard pieces of ebony about 1" x 2" x 12" that I get for about $10. That size will make pegs and splines for many pieces of furniture. I ripped a slightly over sized 3/8" x 3/8" x 12" and 5/16" x 5/16" x 12" piece off one $10 chunk and made pegs for two nightstands a side table and a few other small pieces and have plenty left over of just those strips.

[James Hart]

Richard,

You must have missed a wood gloat I posted a week or so ago.

http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=96519

It included a box with 156 pieces of Ebony 3/8" thick by about 2 1/2" wide by 6" long. Was going to be frets on custom guitars.

PM me.

Jim

[JD Dolan]

http://www.bellforestproducts.com/

I've had good luck with them, and they have good service. They have ebony in different sizes (inlay, tuyrning, etc.).

Other good suppliers are Exotic Wood Group, Griffin Exotic Woods, and Righteous Woods (just Google them for contact info).

As far as substitutes for ebony, you could try African blackwood. Pear wood, dyed black, is sometimes used as a substitute for ebony.

J.D.

[richard poitras]

Thanks guys for the info, lots of different avenues I can check into by the looks of all the responses. Does anyone have the recipe for ebonizing with steel wool and vinegar on Walnut? (black walnut or regular walnut)
Richard

[Mark Godlesky]

Woodcraft has 2x2x12 blanks on sale for $24.30 and 1.5x1.5x12 for 19.19.

[Tom Giacomo]

I have been using this forumla, weat some steel with water and set out for about a week and let it get good and rusty, then drop it into a jar of apple cider vinager (yes apple cider vinager works better than white) let stand for another week, then emerse you walnut into it for a week. Now you must dry it, it will be very black, but it only penetrates about 1/16 of an inch.