Stabilization required for ebony scales?

S

Sandow

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Jun 13, 2013
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Doing a one off knife for a friend that wanted ebony scales with a simple oil finish. Most of my experience is with significantly softer woods so I was wondering if a wood this dense required stabilizing. Despite the materials going into this (s35vn), I expect it to be a prop that never sees actual use so I'm not too concerned with wear characteristics as long as it continues to look decent.

Thanks in advance,
-Sandow
 
Ebony is dense and oily. It does not require stabilization, and if desired, is very difficult to stabilize.
 
I really like ebony, but it has a tendency to check and split. I've seen it on oil finished pieces. The last time a customer requested ebony, I told him I'd only use it if stabilized. There are a couple sellers out there with stabilized ebony, but ultimately we sent a block of black&white that he bought to K&G and had it done. When I got the wood, it was a joy to work with and I feel much better knowing that it will likely never fail.

Other very dense woods may not require or even accept stabilization, for instance desert ironwood is usually used in its naturally cured state.
 
Gabon and other black ebonies don't take stabilization well. They only need to be sanded very smooth ( 800 grit or higher) and buffed with rouge. Oil should be unnecessary.
Black and white ebony, and Macasar ebony, and persimmon ( American Ebony) all stabilize well. I love stabilized B&W and persimmon.
 
It is gabon and I picked up a few pieces so I'd have some just to play with. Half of the pieces I have are strictly heartwood and the other half is from the sapwood transition point. I'll be using the heartwood for this project but the transitional stuff is pretty nice looking.

I took a chunk with a defect at the end, milled the sides and ends flat and hit them with a 600 grit belt. I can see using it as is. End grain looks like polished stone and the sides are shiny with grain fine enough that I'm not sure oil or wax would really do much. Strange to think of just leaving it naked but I suppose it is already effectively oiled by nature.

Thanks,
-Sandow
 
The big thing with ebony is heat. Grind and sand with fresh belts and avoid all heat build-up. Buff with plenty of compound and quick passes. Some folks put the handle to their cheek or lips after each pass. If you get it hot, it may look great and shine like granite today, but checks will start to show up later.....sometimes weeks later.
 
To echo what Stacy said;
The Asian Ebonies take stabilizing very nicely.
I have only tried stabilizing African Ebony once and was not satisfied with how it turned out.
No fault to the stabilizer, it was the type of wood.
 
I have owned 50 year old musical instruments with ebony fretboards, Bare wood. No checking. No cracking. No oil finishing, It is one of the most stable woods available. If you have problems, it is the makers fault.
 
I have a couple of Gibson guitars with ebony fretboards . Most guitar maintinance literature recomends rubbing with lemon oil once a year or so for an ebony fretboard.
 
I second the cracking
It looked fine when I left it for the night. When I picked it up again after a few days it had two cracks
Never had that with blackwood BTW. Because of that some people prefer blackwood
 
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Just to go off on a tangent for a moment.
When you send wood for stabilizing it is better to send in block form instead of scales.
A lot of the time the wood will move a bit when going through the curing process.
If you do send scales make them extra thick to allow for what you will lose when you clean them up.
 
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