Ebony shrinking

C.Edmondson

C.Edmondson

Joined
Jan 22, 2009
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I recently bought a bunch of ebony and have noticed it shrinks bigtime!! I was actually surprised because of it being so hard. Anyone else had this happen? It set for 15 years before it was used and both ends where waxed, I since then have cut 4 different pieces and noticed the others didnt hardly shrink at all, I guess I just got the bad part out of the way first?
 
That's weird that it would shrink after sitting for 15 years... Even when it dries after being cut initially (from the tree) it doesn't shrink a whole lot. Maybe you just got a soft, wet end...
 
Charlie, I bought a large block of ebony from a supplier about a year and a half ago and had the same problem. The wood was supposedly dry and still had the ends waxed. I used it for some scales on a knife for someone in my family and about two months later he called and asked if it's normal for the pins to "grow" :)

There was literally 1/16" of pin showing on each side of the handle. Boy am I glad this one was a family member...

I'm still not sure if I had a "green" piece of ebony, or if his climate was that much drier than mine.
 
Ebony is notoriously finicky. Over 30 years ago, Bob Loveless wrote that he'd given up on it and would only use black paper micarta instead. I don't know if there's anything you can do about it. Hopefully one of the wood gurus will chime in.
 
I haven't personally used a lot of ebony but have heard the same sort of comments in the past. A short while back one of the locals who has been making high end humidors and jewelry boxes sold off a lot of his wood. I asked him about the ebony when I saw his had waxed ends and was wrapped in plastic.

He said he had the wood since the 80's and that it was good and dry. His answer to why for the wax and plastic was that until finished ebony is prone to movement. He said that after it is finished completely (sealed all surfaces) it holds up well. Until then it is subject to fluctuations in temperature and humidity. He also warned against heat from power sanding and buffing.

I hope this second hand info might help.
 
I cut the scales off of the block, sand them to the thickness I want, lap them so they are flat and clamp them to a piece of precision ground O1 and leave them for a couple of weeks, it seems to give them a chance to settle down. So far, no problems, but then again I prolly just jinxed myself :D
 
Ebony that is waxed and sealed needs time to acclimate before use. Cut it into blocks without any wax and let it sit for one month to a year.

Heat is a big problem with ebony. Cut with sharp blades and don't let it burn. Sand with sharp belts and don't let it get hot. Buff by hand and don't let it get hot......Oh, And don't let it get hot.

Many folks use African Blackwwod to avoid some of the problems with ebony.

Even with the utmost care, unless you are going to completely seal the ebony with some sort of impervious finish ( easy in woodworking, not so easy in knife making), it will move.
 
bladsmth said:
Ebony that is waxed and sealed needs time to acclimate before use. Cut it into blocks without any wax and let it sit for one month to a year.

Heat is a big problem with ebony. Cut with sharp blades and don't let it burn. Sand with sharp belts and don't let it get hot. Buff by hand and don't let it get hot......Oh, And don't let it get hot.

Many folks use African Blackwwod to avoid some of the problems with ebony.

Even with the utmost care, unless you are going to completely seal the ebony with some sort of impervious finish ( easy in woodworking, not so easy in knife making), it will move.
Click to expand...


That was all good info, Stacy, but you should have added not to get it hot.
 
I could be wrong, but I think I heard somewhere, "don't let it get hot".
 
tobinsmith said:
...about two months later he called and asked if it's normal for the pins to "grow" :)...
Click to expand...

Haha thats funny stuff!

But couldn't one make the scales, take them off the blank and coat it with CA glue or something? wouldn't that keep the environment from altering it? I dont know if you guys have heard of this stuff, but its called EviroTex Lite pour-on High gloss finish. It preserves wood in a type of resin similar to epoxy but it is the clearest stuff Ive ever seen, but it protects it from the evironment, i mean the stuff is called EviroTex for a reason. Hardest too. Its made for coating wooden counter tops and stuff like that. It says on the box, One coat equals 50 coats of varnish. Its really great stuff. I coated my table with it, and all you do is pour a little on and it spreads itself out evenly without any imperfections. Also can be sanded once dry and still be clear. If anyone is interested in it, you find it at Michael's Crafts. But its about 20$ for a 16 oz bottle. It will last you a long time though. Probably coat 5 tables that are 6'x6'. So its good stuff. I used to use it when I made some jewelery I sold on eBay. I would carve stone (jasper, onyx, etc.) and make a mould and encase it. I even got this insane looking spider and encased it so it looked like it was trapped in clear amber. I made ear gauges out of it, so I was walking around with big ole spiders in my ears. lol. But writing this post gave me a genius idea, I am going to make a knife and encase something cool in a mould, then grind it down and make bolsters and a butt cap! It would work perfect and look BEAUTIFUL, and probably the first knife like that. But if your not worried about a gloss layer on your ebony, this is the stuff u want.
 
I have done a few folder scales with ebony and have not had any problem. I cut larger pieces and let them set in a controlled environment (drawer away from the dogs) for a while and then cut them to size around the cracks.

It could be your wood is not green but at different humidity, I second the motion about sealing to prevent movement. I still have this knife and its about 5 years old, the ebony looks like the day it was made and I have not noticed any movement.


FirstWestern007.jpg
 
Here's a result in the crack of this Ebony Charlie was using for my knife in question... looks like we'll have to rethink using this stuff. :thumbdn:

EbonyCrack.jpg
 
Ouch, I have had cracks when I peened the pins too much, just a little and the pressure starts a crack.
 
Seriously makes me sick to look at it, but safe to say were gonna put some good wood on it. Ebony will never be used in my shop again for anything.
 
Lol - I see this in the AM today when last night I just glued up my first set of ebony scales on a knife. It was cut and sitting unwaxed / unsealed for over a year..../cross fingers....Will avoid heat.
 
OUCH!!! Very nice looking handle except for that crack!!! :eek: :( :grumpy:

Like Stacy mentioned... I quit trying to dick around with ebony and just use African Blackwood. I've seen very few old tools with ebony that didn't show at least a little movement in the wood.
 
I would only say that you shouldnt condemn ALL the ebonies out there. Theres a ton of different varieties and some are from different countries, etc etc....... I would try some different kinds before you totally swear off ebony all together. There's alternatives out there too, but just wanted to throw that out there. Food for thought. :D
 
There's no bad wood, just bad tools, techniques and application. That crack is not from shrinking (shrinking means it was used not fully dry), but stress probably from the pin. There's no evidence in the photo the wood has shrunk away from metal anywhere. Everyone works in their particular comfort zones.
 
This ebony set up for 15 years from what I was told, I dont know? Im sre it was due to the wood shrinking, the pins are never presed in, their holes are drilled to match almost perfectly. Boy do I hate this, first time for everything
 
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