Stabilizing Ebony???

[DukeHarley]

I want to use some Gaboon Ebony on one of my up coming knives but I'm worried about cracking and checking. If I send this to K&G for stabilizing will this take care of any future cracking problems?

Jay

 

[Yugami]

Yes, though the performance increase will be minimal the natural checking will be killed.

 

[Burl Source]

If the ebony has any existing cracks or checks, the stabilizing will not fill them.
If the block is dry and solid the stabilizing will make the wood much less prone to things going wrong.
I have had a lot of ebony stabilized by K&G with great results.

 

[Greenberg Woods]

You can, but for black african blackwood has a little figure and is MUCH less likely to crack.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I use African Blackwood 9:1 compared to Gabon ebony nowadays .... prettier with much less problem.

 

[Robert Erickson]

What about Indian Ebony? I sanded a small area of a piece I have and it polishes up like glass but if it cracks like Gaboon Ebony I might not use it

 

[jdm61]

The thing about dark unstabilized blackwood is that even if it has a small bit of brown figure, oiling it can render it that jet black color of the "instrument grade' wood that seems to be rather hard to find these days.