Official Luthiers Forum!

How well quartered does Gabon Ebony need to be for use in fingerboards?

There is a local hardwood dealer, very reputable operation, with a really big batch of really black Ebony in house at this point, and I'm thinking of biting the bullet and purchasing a good supply.

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I was just over at Hearne Hardwoods this week (Pretty close to Delaware).  He seemed to have some nice ebony.  I'd like to know the answer, too.

Paul

 

[QUOTE=pdrie]

I was just over at Hearne Hardwoods this week (Pretty close to Delaware). He seemed to have some nice ebony. I'd like to know the answer, too.

Paul

[/QUOTE]

That's who I have in mind. Where are you located? Share some time sometime?

Jim

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I live in Pottstown, PA.  My corporate office is in Kennett Square, so I am down there occassionally.  It would be fun to get together some time, as long as you don't mind a luthier wannabe whose focus right now are my three young girls (2, 7, and 9) to the exclusion of little else besides strategizing my next build.   

Regards,

Paul

 

As much as some would argue differently, it really makes no difference. Quartersawn wood gets selected primarily because the shrinkage is less than flatsawn wood. However, the radial and tangential shrinkage of ebony is identical. Strength and stiffness is also a consideration for some uses, but since you are cutting slots halfway through the board for frets, that is not much of an issue. The rather homogeneous nature of ebony also makes differential wear on flat vs quarter faces a non-issue.

If the wood is fairly black, you will be hard pressed to even see how the grain is going, especially after it is on the neck and oiled.

So, if you find good wood, buy it.

Grant

lmi says their ebony is mainly not qs as the available logs are usually too small.

i have to agree with grant,

I cut my own fingerboards from a gabon board I bought from a hardwood store. It wasn't QS, worked out well. Problem was, unless it is macasser, it's difficult to find a straight board. You lose a lot of wood squaring it up. By the time I was finished, each fingerboard ended up costing me around $14 a piece, not really worth it. But I do have some nice left over pieces.

Forgot to mention, there are frequently hidden pin knots and cracks that show up after resaw in gaboon.