Horrible pores in ebony - how to seal

Maybe it's not ebony. Could it be African Blackwood? Maybe it's another wood that has been dyed?

The ebony I've turned is completely without pores. I've turned both Gaboon and Macassar Ebony and have not noticed the pores in either.

Barry

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote: The ebony is very old, a recycled fretboard; I've not worked

I have some chuncks of ebony that has some areas of noticeable pores. These areas also tend to be brittle compared to the rest and, when freshly cut, slightly silver/white in appearance (but goes black with any finnish). I suspect that such areas are normally cut out when making defect free billets. My chuncks have not been selected/billeted.

Others have quite reasonably suggested that you may have blackwood. In my experience, ebony produces dark brown dust on sandpaper and blackwood produces deep purple.

Both ebony and blackwood take a good polish without any surface finish, but they both still have pores. If you want something that looks like black plastic then let a load of sanding dust mix with your finish into a slurry. Doing that with CA may be entertaining.

Andy

Thanks for responding, all. I think it's NOT ebony (though I've run across some colocbolo that was left unsealed in the elements for decades and, though the color was good - amazing - it was riddled like this with pores. I figured all the natural oils had departed, leaving the pores all gaping open. I was able to close these pores very acceptably with CA) because I've never seen this microfine scratch effect before and neither have any of you, it seems. This wood is probably VERY old. Kingwood or ebony, the fact that I can't close the pores is wierd to me. (there are some gray streaks, but mostly is is just pitch black, pitch) If one dips something in CA all the pores should close up, in my view.... And yes, I did the slurry thing with the dust too...

I just ordered more gaboon and am shocked at the going rate - Mitch at Tropical Exotics in Carlsbad is asking $60/bdft, but Miles at Gilmer in Seattle is asking $80. This Swiss customer is very likeable and Very very particular and I am late late late in getting this out so when there's a problem one does the beserk thing and throws money at it until it goes away. I told him I wouldn't work with ebony because it is so endangered albeit not listed as such, but when I found these old fretboards I thought I could recycle them without qualm. Damn!

I'll repost if a change in CA brand makes a difference here.

FWIW the African Blackwood I've worked with was even "smoother" than Ebony

Otto

I'm not sure if I'm understanding what you're needing, but would recommend to one and all to check out Griffin Exotic Woods out of Colorado (ad in AAW journal):

I've ordered only once but was very pleased with the African Blackwood I received. I placed the order via phone with James Griffin and he was very pleasant with the package arriving as promised. I wouldn't hesitate to order again - and I live within easy driving of Gilmers of Portland.