# looking for a rough price of ebony or any wood close to black?



## mark88 (Jun 8, 2009)

im heading to the wood mill today to take a look at some different woods. I have a few things to build now.

1) unit for my tv/dvds

2) build a frame around a big mirror i have

3) a new bed frame

My mind is racing right now for colours/woods to be using. For my bed frame I'm looking at matching it to my maple armoire http://lumberjocks.com/projects/18208 which is nothing but maple. But I always like to add highlights etc. My bedroom is a warm grey colour and I have black wood slat blinds, black picture frames, black curtain over the closet. So I was also wondering for the mirror I have to fram for our beroom if I should make it out of ebony or just stick with maple like my armoire and soon to be bed frame. And as for my tv unit I have seen a really nice project in the latest issue of cdn home workshop where the top of it where the tv sits is black (or a dark wood) and the rest was made of cherry with frosted glass panel doors on it. The black just makes it look a whole lot sharper and I wanna give it a try. But is ebony really worth the buy in any of these projects? Hense my bed frame may just be maple alonde or highlighted with ebony.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Last i saw here in Connecticut it was $60 / bf …... you might need to take out another mortgage lol. You might want to look into dying something black.


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## scrollgirl (May 28, 2010)

Wow. Your set sounds amazing! I can understand why you would like ebony as an accent color. However, here in Canada, it is quite expensive and you would probably have to take out another mortgage if you were going to build anything substantial with it. The price here for Gabon Ebony is $132 per bf. Macassar Ebony is a little cheaper at $108 bf. I don't know how much cheaper it will be where you are, but I will be interested to see what everyone comes up with as far as pricing.

I will be watching to see how you do and what you decide. Be sure to post pictures when you are finished. It will be nice to see your set!

Sheila


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## CanadianWoodChuck (Sep 8, 2007)

Mark, I think I would stick with Ebony highlights, way too much bro. Chris had a great idea with the dying. The only ebony I have used is pen blanks, now I use my leftovers for handles or inlay. Have Fun

Sheila: my golfing buddy is Chuck *Landry* from Orangeville any relation?


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

African Blackwood is as black as gabon ebony and a little bit cheaper. I've bought it for about $60/bf.

Wenge is almost as black and quite a bit cheaper ($30 - $40). However, Wenge is very splintery. Some say you can get a splinter by just looking at a piece of Wenge.


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## scrollgirl (May 28, 2010)

Hi, Bruce: No - I am a Chicago native. Relocated to Canada about 7 years ago. Lots of folks ask me if I am related to the late, great Tom Landry who coached the Dallas Cowboys for so many years. (I WISH!) LOL 

I was going to suggest Wenge, too, Rich, but I hear the same. I have a piece here that I was going to use in scroll sawing and haven't done so yet. Mine is dark, but it does have a beautiful light grain running through it too. 
Sheila


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## KnickKnack (Aug 20, 2008)

You might consider (ammonia) fumed oak - can get pretty black, but with a richness of the underlying brown that, personally, I find very attractive. Cheaper than the "real black" wood, so you can afford to make mistakes!


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## mark88 (Jun 8, 2009)

OKay gang, well i went for my trip to the wood mill, and first things first, they had no ebony. So like most of you had said wenge, I was very close to buying some but with my maple tab at 130 already which has brought me a bit over, I had to put it down for another time. So, that being said, the bed frame design is on hold and My mirror frame will just have to be maple, unless I decide to stain up an oak frame. My tv unit will be maple, but my mind is still running on its design. I won't disappoint y'all lol. Thx gang.


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## CanadianWoodChuck (Sep 8, 2007)

Thanks for the reply Sheila - just curious. Have a great day!


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## Nomad62 (Apr 20, 2010)

Hi Mark, black walnut can be "ebonized" by wiping a concoction made of water, vinegar, and steel wool that has been brewed for 24 hrs or so; turns out black as black can be in good wood. If you have a practice piece laying around you might give that a try.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I recommend ebonizing maple as a substitute. It's pretty hard and small pored
so it fakes ebony okay from a distance. Less brittle too.


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## rcs47 (Oct 31, 2009)

Mark,

If you decide to try ebonizing, here is a link to an article from Popular Woodworking:

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/ebonizing_wood

I have not tried the process. I decided to use dye.

Good luck!


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## McKinneyMike (Feb 11, 2011)

I can supply you with Gabon Ebony for $60.00/BF for 4/4 stock and I also have 1.5" and 2" squares available. Ebonizing hard Maple is a real iffy deal IMO. Soft Maple is a better wood to ebonize, as hard Maple is so dense it will not absorb anything. I have a friend that is a custom furniture builder and he was trying to darken hard Maple this weekend. He applied a black stain to it and let it sit for 5 mintues. Very little stain absorbed into the wood at all. No where close to black once it was wiped off. maybe a dull grey, but not black like ebony at all. 
Black wood is a good alternative, but not at $60.00/BF. Blackwood should sell for about 1/2 of Gabon Ebony normally.


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## miles125 (Jun 8, 2007)

$60.00 a bd ft?????. Holy crap! You'd be better off paying for a finishing education to make woods in the 3 and 4 doll a bd ft range look like any wood you can imagine…And some woods you can't imagine because they don't exist in reality.


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## McKinneyMike (Feb 11, 2011)

To each their own. No way you will ever make Walnut or maple look like ebony though, as ebony has no obvious grain pattern, plus if ebonized wood is ever damaged, it looks like crap to say the least, as the color is on or near the surface of the wood. 
Ebony is normally used sparingly. but it has no peers for those times when your project demands it. I don't think anyone would build a dresser or table completely from Gabon Ebony 
Oh and if you can find real Gabon Ebony cheaper than $60.00/BF please let me know. It is harder and harder to find it without brown streaks in it from some suppliers at reasonable prices. I have sold Ebony that was over 6" wide for upwards of $80.00/BF, but i rarely get any that wide any more. 4"-5" widths are getting rarer when I order. Smaller trees, the dollar losing value against other world currencies, etc has driven the price higher and higher.


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## Timberwerks (Sep 29, 2009)

I used the Brian Bogg's method for ebonizing and it works very wel. The base for this table is ebonized ash:


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## mark88 (Jun 8, 2009)

wow thats crazy… i never even heard of that…gotta try it…thx ppls


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