finish ebony scales

Sit infront of a tv and take an evening to hand pollish up to gritt 2500, and watch it shine :)
 
There are many thing sold as ebony. Some are ebonies, and some aren't. Most of them work about the same, so follow this :

Avoid heat build up in sanding and grinding. Use fresh belts, go slow, don't let it get hot.
You can use the belt sander to 220 grit, but hand sand beyond that.Take it up the grits, using good grade paper ( I like wet-or-Dry) and make sure the old grit marks are gone before moving to the next. Sand up to 800-1000 with the papers, then switch to 3M sanding sheets (the colored cloth-like stuff). Start with the 3M sheets at the green sheet (400) and hand sand/buff all the way to the white sheet (8000). It will be shining like glass if it is good grade Gabon Ebony, and will be at its best if it is one of the others. I don't advise power buffing ebony unless you have a lot of experience, as it can lead to checking and tiny cracks.

Take your time, the time spent here is where the quality of a good knife can be brought out.....or lost.

Stacy
 
bladsmth said:
There are many thing sold as ebony. Some are ebonies, and some aren't. Most of them work about the same, so follow this :

Avoid heat build up in sanding and grinding. Use fresh belts, go slow, don't let it get hot.
You can use the belt sander to 220 grit, but hand sand beyond that.Take it up the grits, using good grade paper ( I like wet-or-Dry) and make sure the old grit marks are gone before moving to the next. Sand up to 800-1000 with the papers, then switch to 3M sanding sheets (the colored cloth-like stuff). Start with the 3M sheets at the green sheet (400) and hand sand/buff all the way to the white sheet (8000). It will be shining like glass if it is good grade Gabon Ebony, and will be at its best if it is one of the others. I don't advise power buffing ebony unless you have a lot of experience, as it can lead to checking and tiny cracks.

Take your time, the time spent here is where the quality of a good knife can be brought out.....or lost.

Stacy
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I do with ebony (and other woods). Done properly, you will be able to see your reflection in the wood :D. There are a lot of ebony species out there. I have at least five species laying around. Most are not solid black, and have stripes of red, brown, green and gray. You probably have D. Crassiflora (Gabon, Gaboon, Nigerian, African and so on), but there are other black species like D. Perreiri, that I actually like more.

Phillip
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top