Why Ebony?

Black looks good with almost anything including knives. Although black is simple, it often has a lot of character when looked at in person. Furthermore, as many have mentioned, it lasts forever and isn't prone to cracking, shrinking or breaking. Like everything, if you don't like the look it may not be for you
 
dannyp said:
Brad, I think one of the makers here posted a picture of those knives you're talking about. I can't remember which thread it was posted in, though. Here is a thread that Kerry posted quite a while back that shows something similar.
Click to expand...

Great thread Dan, thanks for pointing me.
 
So go get yourself an Ebony Handled knife..........

I prefer the very black no-grained Ebony
 
Why Ebony?
Stag looks great when its aged...it develops a yellow Hue that just looks incredible, the same with Bone, worn Bone has this majestic look to it but Ebony....
Well, Ebony still looks good when you see an older knife that has been through the wars ( in age-Literally ) and it carries the scars, you will see the fit and finish still spectacular to its Nickel Silver Bolster, in different lights Ebony will give you a different highlight of its grain-even in some of the darkest-this can be harder to pick up if the knife is extremely old-the wood very dry ....but give it a Mineral oil and Bingo!

The feel of that lovely old wood is hard to explain, but its rewarding.

A very dense wood, its beautifully hard wearing, speaking of wearing in a different sense, I am wearing Ebony in my pocket right now, in the style of a beautiful Ebony Barlow.
 
I had no idea that African blackwood and ebony were one in the same!
I love this question because it brings out some of the most beautiful knife pics.
Keep em comin.
I only own a few examples of "new" ebony from GEC, but they are already showing some nice worn character.
 
littleknife said:
African blackwood is not a true ebony in the botanical sense, but a member of the rosewood family
Click to expand...

Correct, African Blackwood is a rosewood (Dalbergia). Rosewoods are oily and softer woods (still harder than oak, but half the Janka hardness of ebony). Ebonies (Diospyros) are not oily and are very hard.
 
I've been looking for a nice ebony knife the last couple days after seeing some of the pictures being posted up lately. I'm looking for either an ebony GEC 33 Conductor or a #12 Toothpick.
 
lambertiana said:
Correct, African Blackwood is a rosewood (Dalbergia). Rosewoods are oily and softer woods (still harder than oak, but half the Janka hardness of ebony). Ebonies (Diospyros) are not oily and are very hard.
Click to expand...

That's interesting, I never realized ebony was in the genus Diospyros. So I guess we have our own "native ebony" here in the U.S. - the persimmons tree is also Diospyros. I wonder what the qualities of its wood are, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone using it for knife handles....
 
Last edited:
Some very nice pics you guys posted. Some of you (I think) feel strongly about this material. Not having an Ebony is going to be rectified to see what the fuss is about. Now the question is which knife?
 
jwren said:
That's interesting, I never realized ebony was in the genus Diospyros. So I guess we have our own "native ebony" here in the U.S. - the persimmons tree is also Diospyros. I wonder what the qualities of its wood are, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone using it for knife handles....
Click to expand...

I have persimmon trees on the farm. Over the years I have cut a few of these up and found a couple of things about them, one being that it is akin to sawing steel with a chainsaw and it has small voids in it. This could be from whatever killed it but seems to be a common trait. I have tried unsuccessfully to finish a piece or two over the years. Interesting colors, yellows and greens but not much visible grain structure. I thought about cutting down a healthy one but never could bring myself to do it as I really like the fruit and we do not have that many.
 
A little off topic, but some of the Black and White ebony available to knifemakers these days is pretty spectacular.


p1014567.jpg



And it seems just as serviceable as it's all black counterpart.




Big Mike
 
Last edited:
lambertiana said:
Correct, African Blackwood is a rosewood (Dalbergia). Rosewoods are oily and softer woods (still harder than oak, but half the Janka hardness of ebony). Ebonies (Diospyros) are not oily and are very hard.
Click to expand...

According to this woodworking site, both Ebonies (Diospyros) and Rosewoods (Dalbergia) vary widely in their hardness depending on the species, and both have a similar range of hardness.

http://www.morlanwoodgifts.com/MM011.ASP?pageno=208
 
Last edited:
hunterjrg said:
Some very nice pics you guys posted. Some of you (I think) feel strongly about this material. Not having an Ebony is going to be rectified to see what the fuss is about. Now the question is which knife?
Click to expand...


I did not get it either, then I got this
DSCN6041.jpg


Now I get it ;). The GEC 53 comes highly recommended :thumbup:
 
Big Mike said:
A little off topic, but some of the Black and White ebony available to knifemakers these days is pretty spectacular.


p1014567.jpg



And it seems just a serviceable as it all black counterpart.




Big Mike
Click to expand...

I love black and white ebony and I'm always suprised I don't see or hear much about it on these forums. Love that knife handle you posted up!
 
Like some others here, my experience with ebony came from guitars before knives. Now that I have this old LF&C ebony jack I really like it for knives too.

LFCJan18a.jpg


LFCNov3.jpg


ebony3.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top