# Bantu ebony(?)



## Adam T Dickson (Jan 12, 2020)

A while back I acquired a piece of wood that was billed as 'bantu ebony', sometimes called white ebony. But I am not able to find any information on that species. I have attached pictures for your consideration. It is quite heavy, as you would expect from a (possible) true ebony, but the internets do not contain any useful info that I can find regarding bantu ebony. You can see the piece isn't what I would call pretty; and this example has some mild spalt staining, at least on the surface. 

My scale is a little wonky, so I am not sure how much I trust this number, but I calculate the density at 45.8lb/ft^3, which comes out to 3.82lb/BF. Seems a little light for ebony, but who knows. The wood is very hard and heavy in any event.

Does anyone know what species bantu ebony might be? I am quite sure it is a true Diospyros, but the species eludes me.


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Jan 12, 2020)

@phinds


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## phinds (Jan 12, 2020)

Not in my database. Probably a persimmon Diospyros. 45.8lb/ft^3 is not particularly heavy, 'bout the same as red oak.


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## Adam T Dickson (Jan 12, 2020)

I totally neglected to add in my original post that the person from whom I got this indicated it was from Africa. The 46lb/ft^3 does seem a little on the light side. I don't have a lot of confidence in my scale. I suspect the true density is closer to 65 or 70. It's pretty darn heavy. I think zebrawood is about 55lb/ft^3, and it is a fair bit heavier than an equivalent size of that.


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## phinds (Jan 13, 2020)

Adam T Dickson said:


> I totally neglected to add in my original post that the person from whom I got this indicated it was from Africa. The 46lb/ft^3 does seem a little on the light side. I don't have a lot of confidence in my scale. I suspect the true density is closer to 65 or 70. It's pretty darn heavy. I think zebrawood is about 55lb/ft^3, and it is a fair bit heavier than an equivalent size of that.


I have zebrawood at 46lbs/cuft


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## pinky (Jan 13, 2020)

Looks like sapwood from gaboon ebony

Reactions: Agree 1


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## phinds (Jan 13, 2020)

pinky said:


> Looks like sapwood from gaboon ebony


It's too thick for sapwood of Gaboon ebony given the grain shown and also, it looks more like persimmon that G.E. sapwood.


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## pinky (Jan 13, 2020)

phinds said:


> It's too thick for sapwood of Gaboon ebony given the grain shown and also, it looks more like persimmon that G.E. sapwood.




For sure not too thick or wide for gaboon sapwood. It might be persimmon, not famaliar with it, but I have sap gaboon wider and thicker.


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## phinds (Jan 13, 2020)

pinky said:


> For sure not too thick or wide for gaboon sapwood. It might be persimmon, not famaliar with it, but I have sap gaboon wider and thicker.


Huh. I had never seen it that thick and the log ends that I've seen pics of show it quite thin. Typical


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## phinds (Jan 13, 2020)

At any rate, it does look exactly like several pieces of persimmon that you can seen on my persimmon page.


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## pinky (Jan 13, 2020)

Years ago, I picked up a monster log of gaboon already milled and stacked. I still have sap boards close to 8" wide.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Adam T Dickson (Jan 13, 2020)

I am assured it came from a tree that grew in Africa (not sure where in Africa, though). Does that rule out persimmon? Of course persimmon is in the Diospyros genus, but I am not sure if there is a species of persimmon that is indigenous to Africa.


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## phinds (Jan 13, 2020)

Adam T Dickson said:


> I am assured it came from a tree that grew in Africa (not sure where in Africa, though). Does that rule out persimmon? Of course persimmon is in the Diospyros genus, but I am not sure if there is a species of persimmon that is indigenous to Africa.


I don't know about indigenous but I believe that there are at least a couple that grow there. They are very closely related to the ebonies and often share common names. One of them is Diospyros mespiliformis (African persimmon, jackalberry persimmon, West African ebony, Rhodesian ebony, etc).


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## Mr. Peet (Jan 13, 2020)

pinky said:


> Years ago, I picked up a monster log of gaboon already milled and stacked. I still have sap boards close to 8" wide.



I could easily see that for a 20" diameter log and for sure with larger logs. I think Rick Hearne had said something about sapwood being 4"-6" thick for some ebony logs. The sapwood was often sloughed off to minimize insect issues for transport, plus there was little to no market for sapwood back in the day.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 1


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## pinky (Jan 13, 2020)

What's interesting is the sap is just as hard and polishes like the heartwood, just a different color.


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