ebony letter opener

[Andrew Hughes]

You guys like woodcarving?Or should i say sculpting.Check out this letter opener i made for a friend.In celebration of his twenty years sobriety.The wood is macassar ebony with a wax polish.
I am also working on a santa clause carving ill post something when its done.Thanks for looking. Andrew

[Gary Lange]

That is very nice. I don't think my eyes would let me do that.

[Bill Wyko]

Now THAT's cool!! I want one.

[Paul Saffold]

Nice work Andrew and congratulations to your friend's milestone.

[C Scott McDonald]

Wow cool! Well done!

[Joseph D'Orazio]

You guys like woodcarving?Or should i say sculpting.Check out this letter opener i made for a friend.In celebration of his twenty years sobriety.The wood is macassar ebony with a wax polish.
I am also working on a santa clause carving ill post something when its done.Thanks for looking. Andrew

Huge congratulations to your friends mile marker. Thats a lot of chips. Ask him to tell Bill hi for me.

[Peter Harbin]

Really nice work bud! I haven't done a lot of carving and certainly none in Ebony! The details look great and must have been a real challenge in such hard wood.

Give your friend our heartiest congrats on a truly worthwhile milestone. That's a real accomplishment!

Pete

[Andrew Hughes]

Thanks for commenting on my work.After my friends recent divorce all he talks about is dating and his salt water reef tanks.So i thought he would get a kick out of a mermaid letter opener.I presented the gift to him yesterday he got all choked up.It so happens he recently acquired his grandmothers letter opener.He was disappointed to find it broken after making the trip from the Washington state to calif.
As far caving the ebony it wasnt to bad once i got the gouges sharp.I used a flex shaft attached to a sewing machine motor and foot pedal to help hog out the shape and sculpt the face.
Here are some progress pic if your interested.

[Joseph D'Orazio]

Thats interesting. What is that tool with the cord on your bench. Is it like a dremel or something?

[Bill Edwards(2)]

If this is a stupid question, I am sorry, but I thought ebony was one of

those woods that was not supposed to be handled a lot.

Toxic sap or something?