Hasta La Ideas

This Wood Species series of entries comes to us from guest writer Rob Wilkey, an Atlanta-based woodworker and industrial designer whose expertise is in small home goods, furniture, and large installations.

Over the next few articles, we’ll be analyzing a number of common imported wood species. This week’s featured species:

The name “ebony” is given to a number of species in the Diospyros genus that exhibit an extremely high density and distinct black coloration within the wood. The trees in this category, which grow mainly in the tropical regions of West Africa and Southeast Asia, grow very slowly and don’t reach a very large size at maturity. These factors, combined with a high global demand for the lumber, have resulted in many species being overharvested. A number of ebonies are under CITES restrictions, and even those that aren’t demand a high price.

Ebony is extremely dense and ranges from 2400lbf to 3200lbf on the Janka scale, making it some of the hardest wood in the world. Grain properties vary slightly from species to species, but the wood generally has small, diffuse pores and occasionally interlocked grain. Every species in the ebony family is highly durable and rot resistant, but most suffer from significant shrinkage and seasonal movement. These factors make ebony very difficult to work, and the wood is known to quickly dull tools. Thus, ebony is usually reserved for small and intricate projects such as carvings, musical instruments, and lathe-turned items. A high natural oil content makes the wood difficult to glue, but it responds beautifully to finishes and can be sanded to a very high natural shine.

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