Filling ebony's pores

[iusedtoberich]

When I use ebony for woodworking projects, the color is not as black as the ebony in most pool cues. I can also see the grain on the wood I use, unlike the ebony in cues. What is used to obtain that jet black appearance? Is it a pore filler? And why do all the cuemakers seem to do this? I don't see anything wrong with keeping the grain of the ebony visible.

 

[paul fanelli]

jet black ebony

When I use ebony for woodworking projects, the color is not as black as the ebony in most pool cues. I can also see the grain on the wood I use, unlike the ebony in cues. What is used to obtain that jet black appearance? Is it a pore filler? And why do all the cuemakers seem to do this? I don't see anything wrong with keeping the grain of the ebony visible.

Solid black ebony does exist and many cuemakers go to extremes to find it due to customer demand. But such wood is a small percentage of the total yield of available ebony, most of it displaying the streaks you noticed. Personally, I like to see figure in the woods I use. It is true that some cuemakers dye their ebony to make it uniformly black, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you wish your woodworking projects to be uniformly black , I would recommend a water soluable dye that will penetrate into the light streaks. Solvent dyes will not raise wood grain as much, but coverage is less satisfactory. Since ebony has almost no open "pores', a penetrating dye is necessary to permanently affect the color. Of course, if using a water soluable dye, a solvent based finish will work best as the top coat. Hope I've answered your question
paul

 

[iusedtoberich]

Lets say the ebony that is dyed on a cue is directly next to another species of wood. Do you need to worry about the dye being applied to both species so that it would not darken the wood next to the ebony? I would imagine it would be impossible to limit exactly the area that the dye does not penetrate.

What about pore fillers? Are they generally used in cues? It seems to me that many of the woods used in cues are closed-pore, and that a poor filler might not be necessary for a glass smooth finish. If they are used, how are they applied when there is for instance a dark wood next to a light colored wood. Would a clear pore filler be used in that case? Or would a dark tint be used to accentuate the figure in the light colored wood?

 

[paul fanelli]

dyeing ebony

Lets say the ebony that is dyed on a cue is directly next to another species of wood. Do you need to worry about the dye being applied to both species so that it would not darken the wood next to the ebony? I would imagine it would be impossible to limit exactly the area that the dye does not penetrate.

What about pore fillers? Are they generally used in cues? It seems to me that many of the woods used in cues are closed-pore, and that a poor filler might not be necessary for a glass smooth finish. If they are used, how are they applied when there is for instance a dark wood next to a light colored wood. Would a clear pore filler be used in that case? Or would a dark tint be used to accentuate the figure in the light colored wood?

Not having used dyes myself, I cannot say for sure how it would be done on a selected area of a cue without bleeding. I suspect that some careful handwork would be necessary to either apply the dye with a fine brush in the selected area, or to mask off with tape, or even apply a barrier coat over the areas you want to protect. I know it can be done because I have refinished a solid black ebony cue with maple veneers that showed no sign of absorbing any dye, and I was surprised on stripping the cue that the ebony now showed visible figure, which I did not re-dye.
As for open grained woods, the first step in filling and sealing the pores is to use a clear epoxy as a basecoat under the final finish. This step may have to be repeated, as the basecoat may shrink where it is the thickest (in the pores and at glue junctions of dissimilar woods). After sufficient curing time the final finish may be applied, rubbed and polished for a perfectly level finish that should last and last, with normal care.

paul

 

[Goof75]

solid black ebony

Maybe you should search longer for top quality solid black ebony... I know it's getting scarse but you can still find it.

When I need some, I take a day of to go to the mill and look over the stock of ebony they have, wich is often 6 or 7 pallets and in most cases I only leave the mill with no more than ten squares.

Be very strict on your wood. Quality is essential... So never save a few bucks on cheaper but inferior quality wood.

Tom Penrose

 

[blud]

ebony

Maybe you should search longer for top quality solid black ebony... I know it's getting scarse but you can still find it.

When I need some, I take a day of to go to the mill and look over the stock of ebony they have, wich is often 6 or 7 pallets and in most cases I only leave the mill with no more than ten squares.

Be very strict on your wood. Quality is essential... So never save a few bucks on cheaper but inferior quality wood.

Tom Penrose

Hey Guys,

I never dye off colored ebony.

There are two reasons that I leave it as I found it.

1.- God grew that wood, leave it as he intended it to look. When using ebony, and the off colored grain shows up, I, like Paul, like to see the grain, and leave it as is........[ most of the ebony I use for my upper end cues, is black through out].......

2.-I feel your cheating the customer when doing that.

I disagree with Tom, about it being inferior. It's that way in color only.Just because it's got some dis-colored grain, doesn't mean it's an inferior piece of wood. It's just differant. It can be and most of the time is, just as good as the ebony that's jet black. Just a little off color...

When your talking of cues that sell for hunderds of dollards and up, what's wrong with spending more money for premium woods. Some cuemakers are just 'cheap". Not all, but some........They are in it just for the MONEY.

blud

 

[Goof75]

Quote:

I disagree with Tom, about it being inferior. It's that way in color only.Just because it's got some dis-colored grain, doesn't mean it's an inferior piece of wood. It's just differant. It can be and most of the time is, just as good as the ebony that's jet black. Just a little off color...

When your talking of cues that sell for hunderds of dollards and up, what's wrong with spending more money for premium woods. Some cuemakers are just 'cheap". Not all, but some........They are in it just for the MONEY.



Hey Blud,

As you can read, I never said that wood is inferior just because of it's color. I was talking about avoiding to save money on inferior quality wood...

So please don't interpretate my words the wrong way.

When I pick my wood, I look at different aspects of it, wich I rate it's quality by; like grain, growth rings, cathedrals, knots, density, weight and also the color.
But I never said I was grading my wood just by the color of it!

Never mind the "cheap" cuemakers...

Tom Penrose

 

[blud]

read

Quote:

I disagree with Tom, about it being inferior. It's that way in color only.Just because it's got some dis-colored grain, doesn't mean it's an inferior piece of wood. It's just differant. It can be and most of the time is, just as good as the ebony that's jet black. Just a little off color...

When your talking of cues that sell for hunderds of dollards and up, what's wrong with spending more money for premium woods. Some cuemakers are just 'cheap". Not all, but some........They are in it just for the MONEY.



Hey Blud,

As you can read, I never said that wood is inferior just because of it's color. I was talking about avoiding to save money on inferior quality wood...

So please don't interpretate my words the wrong way.

When I pick my wood, I look at different aspects of it, wich I rate it's quality by; like grain, growth rings, cathedrals, knots, density, weight and also the color.
But I never said I was grading my wood just by the color of it!

Never mind the "cheap" cuemakers...

Tom Penrose

Hi Tom, I meant no harm to you, sir. I was speaking of the cheap guys who are in it for the money only. Again, this was not a hit on you. Sounds like you do as I, look for quality first, at any cost.
blud

 

[Goof75]

...

Blud,

Let's keep this for the past and let's go on with the present, ok?

By the way, I must agree with you on the fact that using great quality wood is just necessary...
The first reason is that the client, who's paying big bucks for a cue, has the right to get the best quality.
Second reason is that it also raises the value of the cue.
Third reason; it's so much easier and nicer to work with premium material.

But it's getting so hard to get instrument quality wood these days...

Anyway, I try never to pay too much attention to the "cheap" guys as 90% of my clients ask me about them in the first place because they don't have any custom made comparaison material at hand. That's part of the job I guess...

See you.

Tom Penrose