Trouble with ebony..

[JimSawyer]

I've got a friend who wants me to do an inlay with ebony. The piece of ebony hegave me to do the piece has a slight split ,( or really just cracks), in a couple of places. Is there a way to stablize the wood or will I have to get a new piece from him, (I'd hate to have to do that as ebony is kind of expensive)? When I do the inlay, (1/4"), there will be smaller pieces that wont make it through to the final piece. What I have for glues are Titebond II and Gorilla glue. Is there anything that will keep the pieces intact when I make the inlay?

[GrayBeard Phil]

He Gave You a piece of Ebony???

Such friends I can only wish about.

Yep, I can even take them right to the exact place in the hardwood lumber store, even point out the exact piece I have in mind. It's been there for about 3 years now. Not moved about at lot, but the price tag seems to have been handled a lot.

Best of Luck with that wood.

Phil

[workin for wood]

Smaller pieces that won't make it through means they are trash right?

Ebony isn't cheap, you got that right. Skip through my thread in the intarsia section where I'm building the "Royal Entrourage". Near the end you will see me tackling your worthless wood dilema. In your case, because they are cracks you will use thin CA instead of epoxy and ebony dust, the ebony dust comes from the ebony that you have left over. Once completed, dry and sanded, you won't even be able to tell you did repairs to it. Oh...you don't have CA, but you will have to buy some. Super glue is basically the same thing, but don't use super glue, it is too thick. You want to buy thin CA glue, it'll be worth the $10 investment a hundred times over in the future. It's like duct tapes other brother.

[unixpro]

Jeff's right. Use the CA glue with sawdust for the filler. That's an old turner's trick that works very well.

As far as reconnecting parts that don't make it through the cutting, I use CA-based super glue (with an accelerator) all the time for this kind of stuff. Once it's reconnected, you'll probably have to sand a little more, but the break line shouldn't show unless you look *really* closely.

[Barefoot1]

I have used Rhino Glue with dust for this also with good results.

[JimSawyer]

Ok, here's the thing. I'm making a small, (about 3"diameter), compass design. the piece of ebony I have is 1/4" thick. it hase two cracks in it. You can't see the cracks right out, but if you pry at the piece they're there. Can I just put glue into the splits, and most importantly, they have to survive being glued up before I do the inlay, as when I do make the inlay, the pieces will be small. I'm not sure how to go about making the ebony sawdust, too. In short I'd like to stabalize the piece Before I do the cutting.
Thanks!!!

[workin for wood]

so pry the piece a bit and pour your thin CA in the crack. It will hold. Watch your fingers, or the CA will glue you to the wood. Sounds like your crack is actually just a fracture, so that's all you need to do. A crack that is a visible opening would need sawdust poured in and ca on top which would soak into the sawdust and seal it all up. To make sawdust? Get a paper cup and hold it at the opposite end of a beltsander, sand your wood and catch the dust into the cup.

Just CA on the fractures is all you can do and it will hold. You can't stabilize Ebony like you can many other woods. It's too dense. If the wood was softer like oak, then you can put it in a pressure pot and compress CA glue straight into the center of it. Don't worry, it'll all be fine. If you miss a spot when you cut it and it breaks open, just CA it back together.

[JimSawyer]

Thanks guys. Guess I'll have to go get some CA glue. I'll let you know how it works out.
This site is such a great thing!!

[byounghusband]

Jim,
Thin CA will wick right into the cracks in the Ebony. Be in ventilated areas as well. The fues can be strong.
Keep some Acetone or nail polish remover near you when you do the gluing. It will release your fingers from your work pieces or anything else you glue them too. DAMHIKT......