I had a customer that was dead set on Ebony wood for a handle. It is horrible stuff. It is an oily wood. I tried stabilizing it, but that doesnt work so well. Every piece I had, had cracks in it that I filled with CA. It looks OK, but since he had this idea in his brain, he would not listen to any other suggestions.
He wanted the handle to include a piece of meteorite that he and wife picked up on a trip to Banff, Alberta.
In the end it turned out OK, but if you do work with Ebony, it gums up your belts fast and burns the belts if your speed is too high.
Bob Bryenton
Solar Storm Group Ltd.
Phone: (780) 953-0016
Email: [email protected]
https://www.solarstorm.ca
“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible" -- Arthur C. Clarke
Anytime I have been asked to use ebony, I have strongly suggested blackwood instead, and when I showed the customer blackwood beside the ebony, they were sold. Ebony checks, it just does, and it lacks the translucent depth and grain of blackwood. I don't believe I have ever had a piece of blackwood check that I was not at fault in some form of neglect.
Did I ever try to dissuade him, but he had this vision locked in his touque. Next time someone asks for ebony I will simply refuse, OR, do exactly as you said, sub in blackwood and tell them its ebony. Although that may have risks if they know their wood.
In the end it was a happy customer, but a frustrated bladesmith...
Bob Bryenton
Solar Storm Group Ltd.
Phone: (780) 953-0016
Email: [email protected]
https://www.solarstorm.ca
“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible" -- Arthur C. Clarke
