EBONY, MACASSAR
BOTANICAL NAME: Primarily Diospyrus celebica and Diospyros macassar of the family Ebenaceae. I have also seen numerous other ebonys have "macassar ebony" listed as a common name but I don't think that name is used for any of them in the USA. Specifically, Diospyros blancoi, Diospyros celebica, Diospyros discolor, Diospyros insularis, Diospyros kurzii, Diospyros marmorata, and Diospyros rumphii.

COMMON NAMES: east indian ebony, indian Ebony, coromandel, camagon, golden ebony, tendu, temru, timbruni, tunki. Sometimes called African Ebony even though that name really should be reserved for "true" ebony (listed on this site as "gaboon" ebony). Also called Black Ebony which is also a name that should be reserved for "true" ebony.

NOTE: there are a number of Diospyros species that are labled macassar ebony and/or east indian ebony, and some reports distinguish among them. At some point I will go back and do more research on this but for now I am providing data as though there were only two types of ebony, "gaboon" and "macassar". Knowledgeable people from the International Wood Collector's Society can feel free to call me vile names.

TYPE: hardwood

COLOR: Highly variable in color and grain contrast. Dark brown with black stripes to mostly black with slightly lighter brown or even salmon colored stripes. Some pieces are light chocolate brown with fairly widely spaced black streaks; others are almost pure black with only some showing of a dark brown background. Sapwood is light gray. This is not what most people think of when they think of ebony since it is usually nowhere near being pure black. It can be a very attractive wood due to the striking alternation of black and brown or it can be more murky when the brown is nearly black and the distinction between black and brown is fuzzy. Although it would be impossible to confuse with Zebrawood, it sometimes looks more like a zebra than does Zebrawood in the sense that the darker portions are thicker and darker and the contrast can be more striking between dark and light streaks.

At first a piece may appear totally black but if it contains slightly lighter streaks, they will, with time, become more pronounced and ruin the pure black color. Well selected pieces can be solid black and will STAY solid black.

GRAIN: mostly straight, but may sometimes be irregular or wavy

TEXTURE: fine and even

PROPERTIES / WORKABILITY: an exceptionally heavy, dense, hard wood and is hard to work with hand or power tools as the wood is brittle and very subject to chipping. There is severe blunting of cutting edges. Pre-boring is necessary for nailing and screwing and it is reportedly difficult to glue to not difficult to glue depending on who you listen to: my own experience is that it is not difficult to glue.

DURABILITY: Liable to attack by forest longhorn beetles and moderately resistent to termites. The wood is very durable but extremely resistent to preservative treatment.

FINISH: Takes a high polish. Oil finishes (or just about any finish for that matter) tend to darken it too much except for pieces with plenty of lighter brown to start with.

STABILITY: very small movement in service

BENDING: Steam-bends reasonably well but wood is brittle

ODOR: No specific smell or taste

SOURCES: Sri Lanka and southern India

USES: widely used in musical instruments because of hardness and consistancy of (well selected pieces) color. Guitar bridges, etc. Also used in cabinet work, luxury furniture, carving, knife handles, piano keys, brush backs, walking sticks, and the sapwood is used for tool handles. Also used for inlay, billiard cues, and is excellent for turning. An outstanding contrast wood for marquetry and is sometimes sliced for highly decorative veneers.

TREE: 10 to 20 meters high: logs are usually small and defective

WEIGHT: about 68 lbs per cu. ft.

DRYING: The timber is difficult to dry. The trees are usually girdled for two years before felling, and a further six months air drying in plank or scantling and stored under cover. It should be well protected against too rapid drying to avoid checking and degredation.

AVAILABILITY: readily available from specialty dealers --- veneer is more available than solid wood and turning sticks are much more available than planks

COST: very expensive

web quotes:
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Macassar ebony is a true ebony as witnessed by its copious black striping. It is very hard and heavy and is one of the most expensive exotic woods in the market.

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Comes from small trees and is inclined in any size to develop checking after the project is finished.