Distinguishing Ebony and Rosewood

Biloxi Boy

Biloxi Boy

Man With A Golden Arm
Is there a reliable test for determining whether a wood is ebony or rosewood? I would particularly like to find a source with a range of samples or some easily applied rule in/rule out rules for distinguishing the two. Thank you for your help.
 
Can you be a little more specific as to which species you might be trying to distinguish? Are you talking about wood used in a finished piece that was cut and finished years ago? Something you can cut or at least sand?
 
Biloxi Boy said:
Is there a reliable test for determining whether a wood is ebony or rosewood? I would particularly like to find a source with a range of samples or some easily applied rule in/rule out rules for distinguishing the two. Thank you for your help.
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Experience......the easiest/best way I can think of. Then at times it's still a guessing game.
 
The devil is in the details -- variety. "Standard" black ebony is easily identified -- the problem is there is so much more and rosewood is another story.
 
Biloxi Boy said:
The devil is in the details -- variety. "Standard" black ebony is easily identified -- the problem is there is so much more and rosewood is another story.
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BUT, the other half of this issue is what I call "fake" ebony -- there is, I assume, no small amount of other wood which has been colored or "ebonized", so it is also necessary to be able to distinguish ebony from blackened wood. One cannot judge based on pure blackness.

While on the subject, what is "ebonized" wood and how does it compare to ebony? Is true ebony still readily available?

I played "off the wall" in the '60s, and I remember the occasions when I find a fine old cue with "black" handles/points and no grain. I knew nothing of cue wood back then. It seems that every one I ever came upon rolled dead straight and stroked like a dream -- solid as a rock. If I had known then . . . I would have tried to buy every one I ever saw.

Thanks again.
 
Ebonized wood is wood that's dyed black (or some process to increase tannins). It's got whatever properties of the wood used.

What do you mean by true ebony? Typically that's the diospyros genus. The ebony of antiquity is the most available, African blackwood, but it's also a rosewood and not diospyros. Ceylon ebony is the original ebony used in commerce. It's basically been logged to death. Most common ebony that is pure black now is Gaboon ebony. It's pricey but available. But it will be logged to near extinction like Ceylon ebony in due time.
 
Biloxi Boy said:
BUT, the other half of this issue is what I call "fake" ebony -- there is, I assume, no small amount of other wood which has been colored or "ebonized", so it is also necessary to be able to distinguish ebony from blackened wood. One cannot judge based on pure blackness.

While on the subject, what is "ebonized" wood and how does it compare to ebony? Is true ebony still readily available?

I played "off the wall" in the '60s, and I remember the occasions when I find a fine old cue with "black" handles/points and no grain. I knew nothing of cue wood back then. It seems that every one I ever came upon rolled dead straight and stroked like a dream -- solid as a rock. If I had known then . . . I would have tried to buy every one I ever saw.

Thanks again.
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On really old house cues and Hoppe cues it is often very hard to tell. I have seen Purple Heart that looked black like Ebony until it was turned down. A lot of Ebony is not black and can be difficult to identify. I was looking at a piece of Rosewood that was grayish in color this week trying to decide if maybe it was some kind of Ebony that had been mislabeled as Rosewood. I have handled many thousands of pieces of wood through the years and still am just an amateur at wood identification.
 
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I think mine is BRW, but I keep seeing cues IDed as ebony that look very much like mine. Since I am not selling, I do not have to know, but it is nice to know what you have.
 
Biloxi Boy said:
I think mine is BRW, but I keep seeing cues IDed as ebony that look very much like mine. Since I am not selling, I do not have to know, but it is nice to know what you have.
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The king of rosewoods was common in those days so that is very possible.
 
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