Obsidian Ebony Review - A substitute for true ebony
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- I use a lot of ebony in my Greene and Greene furniture. Many years ago I acquired a lifetime stash. But - if you are in need of ebony today - its very expensive and often hard to find. Not to mention the fact that ebony is a protected wood.
Years ago there was a product called "Ebonex". It was walnut infused through and through with black. It sort of /kind of worked - but not really. It was much softer than real ebony and didn't come close to producing the shine of polished ebony.
I was sent a sample of a Canadian product called "Osbidian Ebony" made by
Thermalwood. thermalwoodcan...
This stuff really works! I have a very hard time telling the difference between real ebony and the Osbidian stuff when looking at polished end grain. The polished long grain shows brownish highlights - but they are within what I would consider the acceptable range.
I am told this product is primarily used for musical instruments. If you are building Greene and Greene furniture (or any doing any woodworking that requires ebony) I would recommend giving this stuff a try.
Osbidian Ebony can be purchased here:
rctonewoods.co...
Thank you for posting this. I was just last night researching G&G furniture and saw many of your videos, and was then researching how to get a viable alternative to ebony - and tonight TH-cam provides an answer from you!
You’re welcome, Robert
Darrell, your use of the phrase “lifetime stash of Ebony” makes the imagination run wild! You make A LOT of furniture. Great video!
Hi Justin, Are you all settled in after the move ? Several years ago I got in on a sale that involved a warehouse full of exotic woods - mostly different kinds of ebony. I got Gabon at $45 bf - Macassar at $40 bf and Malaysian blackwood at $20 bf. I bought till my savings account said "OWIE !"
Nice looking buffer. 🙂 Even real Gabon Ebony tends to have streaks in it these days. Thanks for the review. It's been a while since I added to my Gabon Ebony stash. It was about $100/bft then and it looks like it's about twice that now.
Thanks, Barry. Several years ago I had the opportunity to get Gabon at $45 BF and Magasser at $40 BF.
Price for 22"x3"x0.35" is $29. If I did the math right, that's $180/bf.
Thanks for taking the time to do this review Darrell.
You're Welcome, Tom. I haven't bought ebony in several years so I'm not sure of the current price - but I imagine it's about the same as the Obisiian . The advantage of this stuff would be if real ebony is unavailable and if you wish to avoid using an endangered wood.
I wonder why they've decided to call it Obsidian Ebony and not Obsidian Maple? Great review Darrell. I love how easy you make your plugs and splines.
I wondered the same thing. Obsidian Ebony is kind of like saying the same thing twice.
Thank you for posting this Darrell. 🙏🏻
You’re welcome,Charlie!
I always liked that Greene & Greene arts & crafts style.
Thanks,Joseph
Nice! It is always good to have alternatives.
Hi Steve. Yes - alternatives are nice.
This is great information, thank you for sharing Darrell.
You're welcome - thank you too!
Thank you for another excellent video!
You're welcome - thank you too!
Great demonstration.
thanks, David
Excellent news! Looks great
Thanks,Ron
Darrell, this product was developed for guitar fingerboards, and at this time it seems to be available only in a .350 inch thickness. The sample piece you use in this video appears to be thicker. Does the company have any plans to make thicker pieces for the woodworking community?
The piece they sent me was about 1/2” thick. When I requested a sample from them I was told that they primarily make fretboards for now. I got the impression they may expand their offerings.
Maybe if they get enough people requesting larger stock they might do so.
Looks great will contact them for prices. Thanks for sharing this
There doesn’t seem to be a place to buy from their website. It appears it’s available from Canadian distributors.
@@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker Looks like some luthier supply places sell it. Lots cheaper than ebony.
My sharpie trick has been exposed!
Hi thank you so much for your content. Just a suggestion though: your voice volume is faint compared to the saws. Watching with headphones I had to adjust my volume quickly as the audio became uncomfortably loud. Perhaps there is a way to boost your voice while quieting the machinery in post-production?
Thanks for the heads up! I am still learning the editing end of things. I will check my editing program for a feature that levels the sound.
Thanks for posting, Darrell. It's too bad that currently it's only available in fretboard stock at .350 thickness. I can see a lot of uses for it for future work. Great jig for the splines, by the way. Are plans available?
You're welcome - thank you too! Yes, it would be nice to see thicker sizes. The plans for the ebony spline jig is in my second book. It's out of print but still available as a download.
@@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker Cool, I'll check it out. Oh, and thanks too for the heads up on that silver pencil for walnut oh so many years ago. 😁
Great info, thanks!! No dro on the F&F jig anymore?
Thanks - I have a couple of F&F jigs.
I will probably be revising the DRO jig in the not too distant future. There's a couple of features that I want to improve upon - most notably the large wooden stop that does not allows for narrow stock.
Amazing…… a square peg actually fitted into a square hole
Looks like a great alternative when we might need it. Is there a source in the States where it is available?
It’s available at rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store/obsidian-ebony-c-174/
For now it’s only available as fretboard stock.
Is that maple resin infused? That's a crazy amount of shiny.
I’m not sure what it’s infused with.
I have plenty of real ebony with browns in it.
I do too - especially Macasser. The brown in this stuff is definitely acceptable but I think it’s possible to tell the difference. Unless you’re looking for it - chances are it wouldn’t be apparent.