Ebony

[Big Ry]

Got this block of ebony for cheap on eBay. There was no info other than "ebony". Trying to get an ID. It seems to have a grain similar to the "Indian ebony" sold by exotic wood zone. My understanding is that this Indian ebony is Ceylon ebony (Diospyros ebenum).

I have worked a fair bit with gaboon, and this doesn't have the smell of gaboon when cut and sanded. The grain is also more open than gaboon. I compute a density of 72.5pcf, which seems awfully high. I'm now u
questioning the accuracy of my scale to be honest.

If the density is accurate, maybe Coromandel ebony?

When i was prepping it, i almost thought i got a faint sweet smell from it, which made me wonder if it was actually African blackwood. Though it doesn't seem oily enough for that. It otherwise didn't really have any kind of scent.

 

[daniscool]

I can’t find any end grain data on coromandel ebony. I can say that it likely isn’t diospyros ebenum because your sample has too many and too large pores.

Possibly a very dark and not so streaked piece of mun ebony? Diospyros mun.

@Mr. Peet likely has better answers.

 

[Big Ry]

I can’t find any end grain data on coromandel ebony. I can say that it likely isn’t diospyros ebenum because your sample has too many and too large pores.

Possibly a very dark and not so streaked piece of mun ebony? Diospyros mun.

@Mr. Peet likely has better answers.

I really struggled to find useful images of Diospyros ebenum that would show the end grain. It's just so damn dark that you can't see anything in the photos, and Paul's website also doesn't even have a page dedicated to the species but rather a page dedicated to all ebonies.

I wouldn't know about solid black mun. I've never heard of such a thing, but again i really don't know. That certainly would bode well for me though if true lol

 

[Nature Man]

I really struggled to find useful images of Diospyros ebenum that would show the end grain. It's just so damn dark that you can't see anything in the photos, and Paul's website also doesn't even have a page dedicated to the species but rather to all ebonies.

I wouldn't know about solid black mun. I've never heard of such a thing, but again i really don't know. That certainly would bode well for me though if true lol

@Mike1950 has some nice Mun.

 

[Mike1950]

Looks like no mun i had or have

 

[daniscool]

Looks like no mun i had or have

It is usually much more green and striped. I was suggesting it based on the end grain (which was hard to see anyway) and density.

Have you got some of your mun that you could get an end grain shot of? For my own clarification?

 

[Mike1950]

It is usually much more green and striped. I was suggesting it based on the end grain (which was hard to see anyway) and density.

Have you got some of your mun that you could get an end grain shot of? For my own clarification?

I have mun. But. I was buried but now also have trailer full of wood to process. 2" fresh snow to deal with and most important, I do not even sand my own wood end grain to 400 grit to id....sorry.

 

[daniscool]

I have mun. But. I was buried but now also have trailer full of wood to process. 2" fresh snow to deal with and most important, I do not even sand my own wood end grain to 400 grit to id....sorry.

That’s fine. Was just wondering (and sanding is a pain isn’t it)

 

[Mike1950]

That’s fine. Was just wondering (and sanding is a pain isn’t it)

Just depends how you look at it. Should I sand or do something I want to to, the wife wants me to do or what someone else's wants me to do. Let me see.... hmmm... headed out to either sand or remove snow..... hmmm

 

[Big Ry]

Just depends how you look at it. Should I sand or do something I want to to, the wife wants me to do or what someone else's wants me to do. Let me see.... hmmm... headed out to either sand or remove snow..... hmmm

I'd much rather sand than shovel snow lol

I actually like sanding, so long as i can use my original. Hand sanding is the worst though.

 

[Mike1950]

I'd much rather sand than shovel snow lol

I actually like sanding, so long as i can use my original. Hand sanding is the worst though.

I have a big shovel, heated.
I do not mind sanding. But not to ID wood that is already ID'd

 

[Mr. Peet]

I can’t find any end grain data on coromandel ebony. I can say that it likely isn’t diospyros ebenum because your sample has too many and too large pores.

Possibly a very dark and not so streaked piece of mun ebony? Diospyros mun.

@Mr. Peet likely has better answers.

Dan, when tagging me, do not underline. I will not get a notice.

Coromandel ebony is another name for East Indian ebony. Below a picture from Inside Wood.



I rifled through the few ebonies I have and those with big pores were D. celebica, D. ebonasea and D. subtruncata. D. celebica seems to be close in weight. However, its banding can be seen at 10x and I see no banding in your wood. Your wood also looks more blue, maybe a lighting thing. D. ebonasea mostly lacks visual banding at 10x. Inside Wood has dozens to look at...

 

[daniscool]

Dan, when tagging me, do not underline. I will not get a notice.

Coromandel ebony is another name for East Indian ebony. Below a picture from Inside Wood.

View attachment 285085

I rifled through the few ebonies I have and those with big pores were D. celebica, D. ebonasea and D. subtruncata. D. celebica seems to be close in weight. However, its banding can be seen at 10x and I see no banding in your wood. Your wood also looks more blue, maybe a lighting thing. D. ebonasea mostly lacks visual banding at 10x. Inside Wood has dozens to look at...

Thanks. I did not know. I actually never checked.

 

[Big Ry]

Dan, when tagging me, do not underline. I will not get a notice.

Coromandel ebony is another name for East Indian ebony. Below a picture from Inside Wood.

View attachment 285085

I rifled through the few ebonies I have and those with big pores were D. celebica, D. ebonasea and D. subtruncata. D. celebica seems to be close in weight. However, its banding can be seen at 10x and I see no banding in your wood. Your wood also looks more blue, maybe a lighting thing. D. ebonasea mostly lacks visual banding at 10x. Inside Wood has dozens to look at...

I guess I'll need to cut a sliver off this ebony and throw it under the microscope as well. I would caution against comparing by density though, considering I have concerns about the accuracy of my scale.

I didn't realize Inside Wood was a wood reference/database. For some reason I thought it was a magazine lol. This is an excellent resource, and it actually seems to suggest that the black ironwood from our other thread is most likely Olea capensis. There's a cross section on there that looks virtually identical to the sliver I cut. Anyway, I need to keep this saved to favorites.

The wood is not blue. That's the lighting in my shop and/or my samsung phone camera. Its mostly black with subtle hints of brown. There's almost a wenge-like pattern with the black and brown. You can see it in the photo above where I am comparing the block to a gaboon turning blank and indian ebony pen blank. Both the pen blank and the unknown ebony have this same pattern. The gaboon does not have this pattern.

 

[Big Ry]

OK, I threw the ebony under the microscope along with some Bell Forest Gaboon, Exotic Wood Zone Gaboon, and Exotic Wood Zone Indian Ebony. To me, the unknown ebony looks closer to Indian ebony based on the porosity, though this unknown ebony is still markedly more porous than my Indian ebony. It also appears that the unknown ebony and Indian ebony are more likely to have combined/compound pores, whereas both samples of Gaboon seem to mostly only have singular pores.

Botanical names provided below are per the vendor's website as of today. The Exotic Wood Zone Indian Ebony botanical name was confirmed at time of purchase as well.

Samples - in order of presentation:


Unknown Ebony:



Bell Forest Gaboon Ebony (Diospyrus Crassiflora):



Exotic Wood Zone Gaboon Ebony (Diospyrus Crassiflora):



Exotic Wood Zone Indian Ebony (Diospyros ebenum):