Ebony and African blackwood

[Texatdurango]

I always thought that Ebony and African blackwood were two different woods. I bought a stick of ebony Friday and it looks identical to a piece of African blackwood purchased from the same store.

Either they made a mistake and mislabled it or sold me African blackwood at ebony prices!

Is there an easy way to tell them apart?

 

[Tuba707]

Best I can tell you is that African blackwood has a finer grain and a deep luster that ebony lacks. AB smells different and seems to be a little more oily. And yes, they are two totally different woods (from 2 different genii - Diospyros and Dalbergia).
"Ebony" is sometimes a misnomer applied to any black/almost black wood coming from Africa - the natives (at least in the region of Kenya that I am acquainted with) call all of the African blackwood "ebony". Don't tell them it is something else, either.

Hope that helps somewhat... send me a pic and I might be able to make a positive ID for you.

 

[DCBluesman]

African blackwood, being a true rosewood, smells sweet ... a bit like cocobolo. Sand a small section and try it. It also tastes a bit bitter-sweet.

 

[kent4Him]

One the positive side, the blackwood probably won't crack like the ebony.

 

[TellicoTurning]

True ebony, at least I think I had true ebony, smells like a wet cow lot when you turn it.

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

Once upon a time, they where considered the same thing. It was found out later that they are two different species. Many people, for one reason or another, still consider them to be the same.

FYI, Top quality clarinets are made from African Blackwood, not ebony.

 

[ed4copies]

Originally posted by ozmandus

True ebony, at least I think I had true ebony, smells like a wet cow lot when you turn it.

Of course, in Wisconsin, we know our wet cow lots, but I wonder how many others are still "olfactory challenged" after this descripttion.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Maybe aging ourselves Ed... I grew up in Texas and there was always at least one usually 2 or 3 milk cows... in the summer we always went barefooted... it was always a chore picking your way through the lot... you always carried a stick in case you needed to clean between the toes [}][}][xx(][xx(]