Replies

1. 
   UncleDunc | Oct 04, 2002 06:33pm | #1

   I think it depends of which one you think looks better. In my limited experience, both are easy to machine and sand, and neither one really needs any finish, if polished with a fine enough abrasive. I think blackwood is more interesting to look at, but that would depend a lot on the size of the knobs you're making.

2. 
   sooty21 | Oct 26, 2002 02:28am | #2

   Ebony and African Blackwood both work the same in a lathe to make knobs.African Blackwood is often used in wind instrument making such as clarinets and bag pipes. What you have to consider is the appearance. African Blackwood is a very dark brown/black and usually shows more of the grain in the finished product. All Ebony is striped. It ranges in colour from brown and dark brown stripes to a definite gray black stipe in Macassar Ebony; the bands are irregular as defined by the growth of the tree, but are mostly 1/4" to 1/2" wide. Gabon Ebony is grey and black striped, but the grey is not usually noticeable and the black is quite black. ( I did see an unusual piece of Gabon Ebony that had an irregular yellow stripe through the black from one end of the piece to the other, so anything is possible ).The best black ebony is Ceylon ebony (Sri Lanka now I suppose). The grey stripe is hardly noticeable at all. I also saw some very good ebony from Papua New Guinea. If we think of only the black ebonies, not the brown, then with the Ebony and the African Blackwood side by side, the Ebony is a definite black which can be finished so smooth as to look like plastic,and the African Blackwood is a shiny dark brown, like a woman's beautiful dark brown eyes.

3. 
   IronDog | Oct 26, 2002 06:21pm | #3

   You could consider using a domestic wood such as maple and dying it black with india ink.

   There was some discussion about black dyes and ink recently on this site.

   Good luck,

   Tom

4. 
   bobhallsr | Oct 27, 2002 06:48am | #4

   I recently saw black dyed persimmon used as an ebony substitute. They are of the same genus. Nice touch, that.

   BJ

   Gardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland
5. 
   Telemike | Oct 27, 2002 07:07am | #5

   You can use a cheap and effective substitute to give a Japanese black laquer look.  Use black walnut.  Turn it with a long spigot and chemically blacken it between the 100 grit and 120 grit stage of sanding (the spigot is to rechuck it for finish sanding).  Then, finish sand and finish.  I've tried lots of woods and black walnut is the clear winner for ebonizing.  Oak does well (as does any wood with lots of tannins), but the inside of the pores is hard and stays tan.

   To blacken:  Put 1/4 pint of hot water, 1/4 pint of white vinegar, and an old steel wool pad into a jar.  Cover loosely, leave overnight.

   Soak your knobs in this solution for about 2 to 12 hours, rinse, and allow to dry.  The longer it soaks, the deeper the blackening action up to about 1/16th" at 12 hours.  The knob will dry looking silver grey - don't panic.  When you finish it (or wet it with water), it will be jet black.  I use a thin wiping urethane after watco.  I use the minwax wiping polyurethane over this stuff but any finish that soaks in will leave the piece jet black and gleaming, like watco and polyU which I've tried.

   The dilute acetic acid dissolves the steel wool to form an iron acetate solution.  The iron in solution reacts with tannins in the walnut to turn black, like an old nail stain.

   When you're done, get rid of the solution.  If you keep it with any air contact, the iron will oxidize and turn dirty dark orange.  You don't wanna go there.