Macassar Ebony Pens....problems??

[Chris Yarish]

I have heard horror stories about using Ebony for pens....and that someone here stated that pens made from Ebony fall into 2 categories:
1. Those that have broken
2. Those that will break

I'm interested in using Macassar Ebony for an Emperor, Imperial or Statesman and don't want it to fall into the above categories after I have sold it.

Can anybody advise me on the longevity of Macassar Ebony on a pen? I am not using Gabon or other ebonies, just Macassar.

Comments??


Thanks

[Curt Fuller]

I've turned a few pens from Macassar Ebony without any problems. Just don't sand so much or with so much pressure that you create heat. The heat is the culprit in cracking most pens, ebony or other wise. The Macassar Ebony that I've turned is very dense and fine grained. With a very sharp skew or spindle gouge you can almost get a polished finish without sanding.

[Benjamin Dahl]

I have made pens with ebony and macassar ebony and they have not cracked. it did have some blowout on one or two when drilling the hole for the brass tube but am not convinced that had to do with the type of wood.
I have found that the CA finish I normally use did not adhere like it does with all other woods I have used. Curt's point about the heat is a good one.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Can't add much except to say sand lightly.

[Tim Cleveland]

I have turned many Gaboon and Macassar Ebony pens and, other than blowing out one or two on the drill press, never have any problems with it. Like everybody said, sand lightly and drill slowly, relieving chips often, and at least most of your ebony pens should work out fine.

Tim

[Allen Neighbors]

I've only turned a few Ebony Pens. Probably about Seven or Eight. A few of them have cracked. One, finished day before yesterday, cracked the full length, all the way to the brass tube, even through two turquoise inlaid rings.
I know I didn't generate heat when sanding, so I think the problem with mine might have been that the wood was not dry enough to start with. I bought a 2"square X 12" blank of it, that was totally encased in wax. I cut that into the pen blanks. I think the wood had not cured enough to be used, and, because it was so black, it could even have had some pith in it.... couldn't tell. Does that make sense?
Just info...

[Steve Kubien]

I won't touch ebony for pens because I have had a 100% failure rate. Some died at the drill press and those that survived, cracked within a month of finishing them. I've used CA/BLO, friction polish, dipping lacquer..... No difference, all bad news.

Take care,
Steve

[Dean Thomas]

I had a long talk with a guy who knows a LOT more about wild woods than I ever will. I was planning a project in ebony & maple and wanted to talk about the horror stories that I'd heard. You've read most of what he had to say in this thread already. Heat is the big baddie most of the time, but he claimed that with Gabon ebony in particular tiny check and cracks in the wood are really, really hard to detect. The heat of sanding them can bring them out. Using too much friction with your friction polish can cause enough heat to crack thin wood or even not so thin pieces of Gabon ebony.

If you watch for sales on most ebonies by the billet, they will almost always include a statement about small checks. Those are the ones they can see, and probably not all that there are.

For finish with CA, you can do it. It's actually a pretty good choice since you don't have to use friction to build it, but you do have to clean the wood really well to get the oil away from where your finish will be. Acetone works well. Then you can use CA to finish just fine.

I'm guessing here now: If the wood is so very sensitive to heat, I'd just about bet that it will be sensitive to a sudden reduction in moisture on the surface, too. Acetone acts to wood oils as whatever you call a desiccant to water. If you go too far with degreasing it, will that cause it to crack? Honestly not sure. The few ebony projects that I did, I degreased with acetone and finished with lacquer and had no troubles. That's been about 4 years and no call back. And I promise the owners of the pieces would call back.

[Ryan Baker]

I've turned some pens and letter openers from ebony and haven't had any cracking problems at all. I'd watch out for green wood though. If the blank comes sealed in wax, you can bet it is too wet.

[David Drickhamer]

I've heard and read all the horror stories of working with ebony. I've turned several Gaboon Ebony pens and finials over the years and never had a problem with them cracking. My only advise is to do what I'm doing. And as soon as I figure out what that is I'll let you know.
Dave