Designing a mediation table/alter for SIL. Planning on using decorative quarter circle backets to bridge between the bottom of the apons and the legs I want to inlay cherry lotus flower design into the brackets. Never worked with ebony or done inlay before. Is ebony difficult to carve? What kind of carving/knife tools should I buy? Good book recommendations?
Thanks in advance
Bruce
Replies
Ebony is as hard as a rock, but it planes well. I have only tried to carve it once, and I think that regrinding a steeper bevel would have allowed me to proceed more quickly. I use the Pfiel ( sp ?) carving tools. Since ebony is so dense it will carve crisply, but slowly. I’m not sure what you are making, but ebony is available only in very limited sizes. I saw a piece at my local supplier Saturday that was about 5 -6inches wide and nearly 4 feet long, and this was by far the largest piece I had ever seen. By the way it cost $140.00.
For the inlaying, I use miniature end mills in my Dremel tool, to remove the bulk of the waste and finish to the line with the came carving tools noted above.
Rob Millard
Hello,
I have used ebony sparingly as handles for boxes. Using a dremel type tool with a router holder might work for you. I have seen Norm on TOH using a guide sleeve on a router that allowed him to make an inlay fit perfectly. I use double sided tape to attach two different types of wood together and then use my scroll saw to cut the part out. If you allow a shallow bevel on the saw, it will help prevent gaps. Check out luthier (guitar) suppliers for fingerboards of ebony. Several lumber suppliers offer them.Sometimes a second quality with a few pinholes in it still gives you enough wood to use (kinda like buying #2C lumber). Paxton has had ebony as mill ends:these were rough cut, about the size of a ruler but 1/4" thick at an extremely good price. Some of the prettiest boxes I have made were given to the daughters of my friends or people that worked for me. I think it is neat to give a young lady her first jewlry box.
good luck on your project,
Chuck
hi bruce,
a friend of mine builds guitars for a living and his wife does the fingerboards inlays. she uses a dremel tool with a router plate to make the edge cuts them clears out the inside stock with a larger bit. this is all done after the inlay itself is formed of course and she routs it out a tad smaller than the inlay. when fitting the two she will use a sanding drum in the dremel to fine fit then attach with black epoxy (colored with lamp black). it's an art.
the largest piece of ebony i have ever seen was two weeks ago. dave (the luthier) stopped by to show me a piece of jet black gaboon in his trunk that was about 4" thick, 16" wide and 4' long. it took two people to lift into the trunk. he had paid over $600 for it and thought it was a great deal.
good luck. when my hand heals i am going to teach myself to do this.
ken
I have used ebony as drawer cockbeading. (see Bedside Tables in Gallery, a month or so ago) I achieved the 1/2 round section on 1/4" ebony strips with a hand held, homemade beading scraper. It worked just fine. Neat, tight little curls came off of the beading tool, and the finish was like a mirror, without any sanding. In fact, I never did sand it. You may find that sanding ebony after the inlay puts a very black dust into the surrounding wood, which cannot be removed. That is what my expermenting showed, at least. The ebony can also be driven through a dowel plate, and the dowels are pretty cool for decoratively pinning a tenon. I have been playing with this technique, but have not yet used it.
Alan
Great information! Included drawings on what I have in mind. Don't panic, the legs are ebonized cherry. Ebony items would be Om symbol on front apron, 1/8" bead on bottom of aprons and corner brackets. Om symbol would be through routed into 1/8" stock about 2" square. The brackets would have 1/8" cherry inlay into 3/4" ebony. Finish schedule would be black dye for the legs, dewaxed Garnet shellac wash coats for the cherry followed by Tung Oil on all. SIL may burn a candle on top so may need to go to more heat resistant finish for top.
Sounds like a rotary tool is the ticket for routing and inlay. Checked out the inlay bearing kits for my router, need smaller bits for detail and to minimize hand work. Does the rotary tools have accessories specifically for inlay work?
Rockler sells ebony in 1/10th square foot sizes in 1/8 through 3/4" so I can get just what I need for this one off project. What would be a less expensive stock with the density of ebony to practice on? Hard maple?
After seeing drawings, any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks again for the response
Bruce
Bruce,
Beautiful drawings! What software did you use?
Thanks,Paul
K9s
Not sure I would go with the router. Steve Latta is an inlay expert. He uses a knife, chisels, and cleans up the bottom with a very small Stanley router plane, which I just saw in the Highland Hdw catalogue. About $20.
I would shape the beading by hand, with a scraper or beading tool.
Practice wood would be any scrap of a hard, dense, exotic, such as redblood, etc. Even purpleheart perhaps. Hard maple would be a second choice.
As to the finishing, I would stick with the shellac only on all but the top, where I would also start with the shellac. Use dewaxed, and then finish the top with varnish, right over the shellac. Oil over a film finish doesn't seem to me to be a good choice, but taste has no friends, they say.
And, great software!!! What is it. Do you give lessons in it? I have emailed you, and hope the address is good. If not, email me.
Alan
Good point on the finish. The Tung Oil I was referring to was Minwax which is 99% wiping varnish. Usually 5 coats of this builds to a nice film--even I can't screw it up.
To all that asked--you won't like the answer--the software is Photoshop. I am a designer with about 15 years experience using it in a production environment. Very steep learning curve. I usually develop concepts in thumbnail stetches then refine full size in Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand. Import into Photoshop and apply photos of wood which I download from places like Woodfinder. Adjust color to simulate finish schedule and add shading to define shadow lines.
This allows me to try different details, porportions and woods to narrow the choices down. I print out the line drawing full size, cut out hang on wall, readjust for the real world (I suspect. to apron will look too deep and the leg taper needs refinement).
Bruce
Its amazing the relative value of woods. Here in Singapore, I walked into a warehouse some time ago and there were 20 or 30 ebony logs...squared off about 8" and about 8ft long mostly...about $450 each....too expensive for me cos I bought a large one 11" square and 9' long for a bit less a few years back. The guy said he had tons of it in some other place! Then, just the other day, the woodworker who helps me out on big projects brings me over to another workshop to show me some " really expensive imported wood" for some rich guy's mansion....the workshop was stacked to the ceiling with "really expensive" beechwood! Everybody here wants imported woods like beech and maple while teak and mahogany are considered common!
Something to think about...
Shane
Edited 8/10/2003 8:32:55 AM ET by shaneyee
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