COMMON NAMES: african ebony, black ebony, true ebony, cameroon ebony, nigerian ebony, etc., according to country of origin. Also kanran, kayu malam, kukuo, and Msuini.
TYPE: hardwood
COLOR: the blackest wood in existance, although it can have subtle lighter colored streaks and in some cases can have as much contrast as its sister wood, Macassar Ebony, although that is rare. Generally it has an almost uniformly black heartwood with yellowish white sapwood.
well, so much for the experts. Now that I have a flitch of my own (well, PART of a flitch) I see that the sapwood is sometimes distinctly orange, not yellowish white at all, as you can see from my sample pics.
GRAIN: straight to slightly interlocked but usually indistinct due to extreme dark color
TEXTURE: very fine
PROPERTIES / WORKABILITY: very dense, very hard wood that is very hard to work with hand or power tools, with severe blunting effect on cutters. In planing, a reduced angle of 20 degrees is required when irregular grain is present, with an increase in in pressure bar and shoe pressures advised to prevent the wood from riding or chattering on cutters. Pre-boring is necessary for nailing and screwing. Tends to chip but turns well, takes glue well although some reports say it is difficult to glue.
NOTE: Many reports caution to avoid leaving the wood open to the air for prolonged perionds after cutting, turning or any any way exposing new surfaces, as doing so will result in checks.
DURABILITY: Very durable. Highly resistent to termites. Extremely resistent to preservative treatment.
FINISH: has a natural metallic luster and can be brought to a very high polish
STABILITY: most reports say small movement in service but subject to checking --- a few reports state large movement in service
BENDING: good steam bending classification and very high bending strength
ODOR: some reports say there is an odor but none gave any indication of its characteristics
SOURCES: central to southern Africa and S.E. Asia
USES: piano keys, musical instruments, turnery, inlay, novelties, billiard cues, brush backs, luxury furniture, tool handles, and knife handles. An outstanding contrast wood for laminations, marquetry, fancy articles and inlay.
TREE: 30 to 50 meters high with trunk diameter of 100 to 200 cm
WEIGHT: about 63 lbs. per cu. ft.
DRYING: billets dry fairly rapidly and well with little degredation
AVAILABILITY: readily available from specialty dealers with turning sticks and small bowl blanks much more available than planks
COST: very expensive --- prices will generally start around $50/BF for low quality and $80/BF for good quality and small pieces of excellent quality will prorate out to hundreds of dollars per board foot if you are enough of a masochist to do the math.
COMMENTS: Includes varieties from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Kribi, Gaboon, Madagascar, and Zaire and is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Macassar Ebony which is a different wood although somewhat similar in appearance and related botanically.