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Ok I hit up the lumberyard today, and picked up some ebonies for bridge blanks (paid a total of 40 USD which included several pieces, some scraps and some good ones). I was told these are African ebony, but when I go to cut them (to make bridge blanks) I notice a very distinctive and pleasant aroma, unlike the ebonies I have cut before (Gaboon ebony smells terrible when cut). Also some of the pieces are really dark brown instead of jet black (although the dust all look jet black).

I am suspecting what I have is in fact African blackwood rather than gaboon ebony. What do you think? I got enough wood for 10 bridge blanks and a few headplates. There are a lot of cracks in places so I have to avoid them.

The first picture has a piece of Gaboon ebony bridge blank from LMI over it as a comparison. The wood in question is not as dark as the gaboon ebony, but has a dark brown tinge. Sapwood is very white.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Yep .. sure looks like african blackwood to me .. its actually my favorite bridge material these days ...

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

So what do I do about the cracks? There are a bunch of them, some obvious, others not so obvious. Wonder if I can just bathe the whole thing in epoxy to fill them? I could get so much more yield if I could just not deal with the cracks... But even with the cracks, voids, and defects I can still probably get about 10 bridge blanks out of the whole lot, and a few headplates. Now the only thing I'm worried about is these are probably poached Chinese stocks...

The lumberyard has a lot more where it came from... it really looks like I've hit a jackpot or something.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I cant see how epoxy will penetrate small cracks, its too viscous .. I use thin crazy glue when required, and add dust if the crack is open enough.

If you are getting it cheap, be happy !!! .. good stuff is very expensive, around 95 a board foot , or 15 a lb.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

It does look like African blackwood, which is occasionally marketed as "ebony". I've bought several pieces of "B" grade stuff for bridges fingerboards and what not. The "B" grade stuff seems a little lighter in weight which suits my purposes better anyway. Good stuff. If you are getting it cheaply, cut around the defects and use the off cuts for trim and inlays. Super glue can glue cracks successfully but why start out with defects if you can avoid it without too much expense?
If you oil it with mineral oil it will turn jet black like ebony. If you are gluing cracks do that before oiling.

Another vote for African blackwood. Coincidentally I'm off to the resaw to mill this little piece right now...

Where's the DROOL emoticon?

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I don't think i would want to use a repaired cracked piece for a bridge, head plate and fingerboard no problem but bridge? Maybe... I don't know. It looks like a nice chunk of wood what ever it is.

I just cut some bridge blanks today... I'm being very liberal with defects, because I can always maneuver the final bridge so that area with the highest stress concentration (the part between pin holes, and where the saddle sits) does not fall on where the crack happens to be. I can then do a cosmetic or structural fill with either thin epoxy or CA. In fact I want to pour epoxy into some of the larger cracks on the headplate piece so that the wood remains in once piece as I saw it...

I do notice a definite difference between these African Blackwood bridge blanks than a known ebony blank. I hit each of them with a plastic hammer and the African blackwood has a noticeably stronger glass like tone to it. Ebony has it too, but not as strong. I would say it's the difference between hitting a glass vs. hitting a piece of steel... similar but still different enough.

It's confusing enough as it is, since both species (gaboon ebony and african blackwood) all looks black, but out of all the ebonies I have ever seen I have never seen anything with a purple tinge until now. I guess I can't say if I hit the jackpot since both species are equally expensive... but the usual suspects (LMI and Stewmac) carries ebony bridge and fingerboard blanks at reasonable prices, while african blackwood fingerboard and bridges are not as available, and those who sells it sell it at a higher price than ebony. Now the only conundrum I have is whether or not these are the poached stuff originally imported to China, then to Taiwan.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

What's wrong with ebony?

By the way I think the larger piece (the one to the right in the picture) is probably ebony, maybe Macassar. I say this because when I cut that one it didn't have the fragrance, but instead had the usual ebony smell. However the wood grain is exactly like all the other pieces, with purple hue but turning dark brown when wet. The smaller but thicker piece had fragrance when I saw it but the other piece does not. Is there not any positive way of identifying ebony from african blackwood?

I really can't say gaboon ebony simply because the color hue and grain is nothing alike... Gaboon ebony is jet black when wet. I have seen another handmade guitars made out of african blackwood and it looks dark brown. So either odor is not a good identification of wood, or I have a particularly dark grade of macassar ebony...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

The surface I showed you in the picture was freshly cut... it was ran through a jointer just 30 minutes before. The problem is, the difference between freshly cut and old wood is not clear... just black.

I rubbed some shellac on the wood to see its look under finish (mineral oil don't seem that good) and this stuff exudes a LOT of resin. It turned my fingers brown from rubbing it in. I tried the same on ebony (both gaboon and macassar) and none of them left any stains.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com