Ripping ebony

JWD · 7 Mar 2017

Hello everyone,
just a quick question for those experienced in using ebony.
i'm making an ebony photo-frame for my girlfriend for our anniversary, planning to do some carving and fill with epoxy and high sheen copper powder -should look pretty good!
i have a very small piece and it needs ripping, i can only use a table saw as i have no access to a bandsaw and don't trust my handsaw skills. I'm going to purchase a new freud blade for the occasion and i have a choice between 16 and 30 teeth, i'd love to know which one of these will give the best rip so i dont have to thickness the pieces afterwards?
thanks in advance
joe

AJB Temple · 7 Mar 2017

Joe

I have dimensioned a lot of ebony for guitar fingerboards. Mostly from 2" thick planks. How small is "small". It is a dense timber and rip /cross makes little difference in my experience. I usually cut by hand or with a fine tooth blade on the bandsaw. If I was using a tablesaw (which I wouldn't) I would use a blade more teeth, finer cut.

AJ

JWD · 7 Mar 2017

AJ

i would absolutely use a band saw if only i had one! the block is about 1-3/4 inch square by just over a foot i think, i hate to waste so much with the saw kerf but i don't really have another option

Joe

AJB Temple · 7 Mar 2017

Are you sure you want to do this Joe? By the time you have cut the block into four strips, and planed or sanded out the saw marks, you won't have a lot of thickness left to rebate the frame even if you leave it in rectangular section.

Do a dry run on some cheap timber cut to size.

AJ

JWD · 8 Mar 2017

Thats a good idea i'm definitely going to do that! i was hoping to only cut two strips and then cross cut them so i get half a frame out of each - My reasoning for the wood choice is the copper epoxy is really going to stand out in the final piece, i can't think of something cheaper/less rare i have to hand unfortunately

joe

disco_monkey79 · 8 Mar 2017

You could always use ebony for the face, and another timber behind to build up enough thickness for the rebate (or use a narrower strip behind to form the rebate)?

Isn't there a local bandsaw you could borrow for this job? I seldom use a table saw, but the timber sounds a little small for the tool (ie please be careful!).