# Finishing ebonite?



## drgoretex (Dec 26, 2010)

Hi all.

I have a few pieces of some nice red and black ebonite I have been meaning to turn, but am not sure how it is usually finished.  Most of my finishing is with CA - will this work OK with ebonite?

Thanks for any tips!

Ken


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## PenMan1 (Dec 26, 2010)

I wouldn't put CA over ebonite.

I sand and micro mesh it to 12,000 and then polish with Flitz or Brasso followed by a quick "shine up" with Mequires Plastx.

One word of advice, if you use a buff pad on a Beall buff, etc keep the pad separate. The Flitz and Brasso make the pad unusable for wood pens.

I don't use a buff wheel on ebonite because heat build up can ruin the pen in a nano second, but I know others who do use buff pads.

With sharp tools, ebonite is really easy to work, once you get beyond the smell of burning rubber.


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## aggromere (Dec 26, 2010)

I have turned several ebonite pens.  Ebonite may be the messiest material I have ever used, but can make a very elegant pen.  Just as Andy says, heat is the enemy.  When I drill ebonite I take long breaks to avoid any heat build up.  I use a sharp oval skew, but that is just my preference.  I web sand it with my micromesh really wet to keep it cool.  I've never used brasso on it but will have to give that a try.  I polish with a pool cue finish polishing compound that is a lot like Novus 2 and then off the lathe for some ren wax.   I ruined at least one piece of ebonite by overheating it.


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## JBCustomPens (Dec 26, 2010)

Never put the pen away! If you've turned ebonite, you'll know why!!!


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## penfancy (Dec 27, 2010)

I've used plastic polish on ebonite with good results. True enough, watch out for over heating it.


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## chriselle (Dec 27, 2010)

Nothing much to add other than... I do quite a few (not all) ebonite pens with a CA or Urushi finish.  Some people don't like the smell of rubber on the hands in the dog days of a hot sweaty summer and ebonite looks really spiffy with a polished finish.


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## Chasper (Dec 27, 2010)

I use this tutorial by Kurt Huhn for turning and finishing ebonite.


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## DozerMite (Dec 27, 2010)

Ebonite comes out with a very deep shine with proper finishing.

Here is a keychain I did with some of the Ebonite we produce at work.


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## JerrySambrook (Dec 27, 2010)

I had a conversation with Ed about this a couple of nights ago,
I did a razor handle in ebonite (green and black) and ended up buffing it to get the final finish.
Finally used it the other nite in the shower while shaving.
While shaving, I starting to look to see if the ceiling fan was ok, or if there was a problem.
Kinda went away when I put the razor down.
Picked up razor again, and the same burning rubber smell comes back

The hot water makes the lovely odor come out all over again.

As an ex-racer, the smell is still pleasant to me, but if you do not like that odor, then keep it out of heat

I wiped it dry, and put it away,  today when I went to the cabinet again, and opened it, the odor from the ebonite was once again permeating the air.
Seems like the hot water drew some of the "oil" out of it into the air.


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## DozerMite (Dec 27, 2010)

Actually, the odor people think is the rubber, is the sulfer.
Ebonite (or any vulcanite for that matter) has a very high sulfer content.

If you think it smells bad when turning, you should smell the raw dust and even worse is when they crack open the vulcanizer. It burns your eyes and sinuses something terrible, even with two huge exhaust fans in the mold room.


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## chriselle (Dec 28, 2010)

JerrySambrook said:


> I had a conversation with Ed about this a couple of nights ago,
> I did a razor handle in ebonite (green and black) and ended up buffing it to get the final finish.
> Finally used it the other nite in the shower while shaving.
> While shaving, I starting to look to see if the ceiling fan was ok, or if there was a problem.
> ...




As per my post above....Summer in Japan approximates your shower conditions:biggrin:...people don't dig the smell.


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