A Focus on Ebony

Gabon Ebony is one of the rarest and most valuable species of hardwood. Used for musical instruments, turnings, fine furniture and as an accent in hardwood flooring installation this species offers a truly black appearance that is often imitated but cannot be duplicated.

Gabon ebony wood is the most pure black of the lot, but can have occasional chocolate brown seams, especially in the middle of larger chunks. You can pay significantly more for wood that is guaranteed to be pure black throughout. The sap wood is a light gray offering extreme contrasts in color that can add dramatic flare to small turning projects like pens and bottle stoppers.

Ebony weights approximately 65+ lbs per cubic foot. It is the only wood which will not float in water.

Unlike other hardwoods, Ebony is often sold by weight, not boardfoot.

We have over 21,000 lbs of Ebony log segments in stock in our Athens, GA location. These 400+ sections of heartwood are irregularly shaped and can weigh from 10 lbs to 220 lbs for each piece. They are often about 3 feet long and various and irregular diameters. These shapes come from the method of harvesting. The sawyer uses a chainsaw like a carving knife, cutting away the sapwood and leaving these irregular shapes. We have imported them whole, eliminating the waste common to other vendors.

All pieces appear to be either Grade ‘A’ or ‘Select’ (Ebony has its own grading system) with either extremely little or no brown (sap) wood. The photo above clearly shows the white dots on the end of the logs, which are government certification that the wood has been harvested and exported correctly.