Official Luthiers Forum!

I milled this ebony bridge blank with my safety planer and then ran it through the drum sander and It kinda has a strange whitish color in it. Is this normal? It doesn't look like mineral spots I've seen before. Any ideas? Should I not worry about it or is there a remedy? The

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Have you tried wiping with a solvent, Steve?

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Alex, I have not tried wiping it with a solvent... Is there one you would suggest, napth, dna, acetone?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I'd just use paint thinner, or naptha. DNA flashes off quickly, and can cause moisture in the wood to evaporate, as well.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Looks like mineral content to me.... may not wipe off.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I don't remember the week acid you use on mineral spots. Acetic acid?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I use acetone for that Steve. Sometimes get mineral streaks in EIR as well. The acetone dissolves the natural oils and its like staining it but I think you just have piece of the "new" ebony that is being sold. I have found recently that getting solid black is getting harder and harder to find.

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"I've been had again"
Tim Benware
Creedmoor, NC

Don't have it in front of me, but muriatic(?) acid. It's also used by people doing marble work etc for clean up.
Rubber gloves and a mask and good ventilation unless it's a very mild solution.
Ebony is becoming more and more like that. There's a Youtube clip by Bob Taylor about this. Massive quantities of
ebony were left and the ground because only one in three(?) trees was black enough. Now Taylor and others are
buying not so black ebony, and players will slowly have to get used to it.
I bought 50 bridges from one of our sponsors six months ago that were said to be 'jet black'. Most were but about one third
were not. Still a great buy and I am very happy with the quality. And, I have had some younger players say they like
the streaks because it looks like woods and not so much like plastic.

Brent

I too use acetone on Rosewood mineral deposits -- it dilutes the resin and makes a stain solution that blends perfectly. Now this piece of wood in the original post is mineral stained as well -- on the other hand, this should not be confused with perfectly normal Ebony that has lightish variegated grain characteristics. When buying "streaked Ebony" that is what you should be getting -- not mineral stained. There is a distinction, mineral stained Ebony requires a repair treatment -- streaked Ebony does not.

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

I tried acetone. Didn't do a thing...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

From the Allied website -- sure enough acid is recommended -- and lemon juice might work!


Grades
4A grade boards are for retail only. We're simply not getting enough of the quality that everyone wants: black, quarter-sawn, straight grain, and no knots. At best, this grade represents about 10% of what we get. 4A grade boards are quartersawn, even colored, not necessarily black-black, no knots, straight, and fine grained. 3A boards are similar in color to 4A grades, but may have a blemish on one side, or may be slab sawn. If slab sawn, the color will be dark. This grade may have some mineral which can be removed using muriatic acid (recently heard lemon juice works, too).* 2A grade boards are usable, but not great, and will usually require some dying or staining, or if not, may have some knots that go all the way through the board. 1A, for all intents and purposes is really 2nd grade. The most you can say about these boards are that they are ebony. But if you don't mind staining, and perhaps even filling a few blemishes these boards are usable.

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

The whitish mineralization is primarily calcium carbonate (lime) and can be removed from the surface with an acid. White vinegar or C-L-R have worked for me. Diluted muriatic acid will also do it, but may discolor lighter woods. While acetone will leach oils out of rosewood and darken the mineralization, it doesn't seem to do much to African or Indian ebony.
I used to buy Indian ebony in the early-1980's, and mineralization was very common.

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John