Folks,
I am doing a very important project. It is a cherry cabinet and I will be turning Tuscan order quarter columns for it. I have been playing around with the idea of using ebony for the columns. I think the client would be willing to lay out the $400-500 it costs if I ask them to.
I’ve never worked ebony before. Can you glue it to itself?
Not sure I like the idea of $500 worth of wood spinning away in front of me in the lathe. I am by no means an Ernie Connover.
Any comments would be appreciated (well most comments anyway).
Frank
Replies
Amonst us sailing-era scale model builders, it is common to turn cannons out of ebony. At moderate speeds, it turns almost like metal, with nice curls, no chatter, and a smooth turned surface. I turned my cannons on a metal lathe, so I'm not sure how free-hand turning will work.
I used epoxy to glue it to itself and to walnut with no problems.
BTW turned and finished ebony looks a lot like black plastic. Is this the look you want?
Edited 9/13/2005 6:50 pm ET by JohnH
I like the way it turns and finishes. If I were going to turn quarter columns, I would glue the squares together with craft paper in the glue-joint. When you are finished, just drive a chisel into the paper joint at one end and it will split right down the middle of the paper. In this way, nothing will be lost from the quarters to saw kerf, or difficulty finding the middle along the taper etc.
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