Advice Needed / Prepping for Pale Moon Ebony Build

Lonnybass

Lonnybass

Jul 19, 2000
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Endorsing Artist: Pedulla Basses
#1
Good evening from San Diego, my esteemed fellow builders. Recently, I saw an F Bass made out of pale moon ebony and decided instantaneously that I needed to build an instrument like it for myself.

I just ordered a beautiful highly figured slab (you know me!) and expect it will be arriving here in the shop at some point late in the week. I've been told it's a bit finicky, and some extra precautions are necessary to ensure it is adequately dried and sealed to prevent checking and splitting. I am hoping you guys and gals can provide me some advice about what to do with the slabs upon their arrival and how to see them through from 1) a month or two in storage 2) through the build cycle 3) up to finishing and completion.

Would love your thoughts from anyone who has worked with this stuff (or others like it) before!

Thanks all!

Lon
 
#2
Lonnybass said:
Good evening from San Diego, my esteemed fellow builders. Recently, I saw an F Bass made out of pale moon ebony and decided instantaneously that I needed to build an instrument like it for myself.

I just ordered a beautiful highly figured slab (you know me!) and expect it will be arriving here in the shop at some point late in the week. I've been told it's a bit finicky, and some extra precautions are necessary to ensure it is adequately dried and sealed to prevent checking and splitting. I am hoping you guys and gals can provide me some advice about what to do with the slabs upon their arrival and how to see them through from 1) a month or two in storage 2) through the build cycle 3) up to finishing and completion.

Would love your thoughts from anyone who has worked with this stuff (or others like it) before!

Thanks all!

Lon
Click to expand...

Hello Lon;

Do you mean just the fingerboard, or the whole neck, or the whole bass?
 
#3
Bruce Johnson said:
Hello Lon;

Do you mean just the fingerboard, or the whole neck, or the whole bass?
Click to expand...
Hello my friend! This will be a bass with both a pale moon ebony topwood as well as a fingerboard. The body slabs were just ordered tonight and will likely arrive here later in the week and I have not yet ordered a fingerboard.
 
#4
Lonnybass said:
Hello my friend! This will be a bass with both a pale moon ebony topwood as well as a fingerboard. The body slabs were just ordered tonight and will likely arrive here later in the week and I have not yet ordered a fingerboard.
Click to expand...

Okay, that sounds realistic and reasonable. The main thing about working with all kinds of ebony is that you are completely at the mercy of the supplier; how carefully they prepared and dried the wood. If they didn't do the full process like LMI did, there's a high chance that the boards are going to crack.

Especially if you are buying them as thicker slabs, which you are going to resaw and plane into thinner boards. To dry ebony properly, it needs to be sawn down to close to its final thickness, and then put in a controlled heated environment for months or years. It needs to be dried out slowly at close to its final thickness, to keep it from cracking.

But, if you are using the ebony as fingerboards or thin tops, you can accept some cracks. Glue the ebony down with West Systems epoxy, machine it to its final thickness and shape, and coat it with a good hardening sealant. And accept that it may develop some cracks over the next year. If they happen, it's not a total disaster. Fill the cracks with West Systems and redo the surface.
 
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#5
Bruce is right about supplier prep of the board. The 2x4ebony board for this neck thought went through a painfully slow period before getting into this bass. It was wrapped with cellophane for a year initially to slow its drying. Then rough cut and wrapped and allowed to sit for another year or so to see where it would move, shrink or crack, another round of cutting closer to finished size and again wrapping and allowing to sit. After four years I was comfortable with bringing it down to size for the body wing attachment. Even with all that I consider myself lucky it stayed straight and not develop any cracks.
 

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#6
Can you share who you got the PME from? I have purchased a few billets of it from different suppliers and have had both good and bad luck in terms of what the board was sold as in terms of being dry and what actually arrived. Ebony in my experience is one of the worst behaved woods in this regard. As Bruce says, it absolutely needs to be properly dried and generally near the thickness you'll be working at it. I have a big stash of it drying now from a large billet that I cut up. I'll be able to use it in a few years.
 
#7
Team -

Thank you all for your suggestions so far! I knew I could count on you guys for some good advice, and quickly. In answer to the question, the supplier is Well Cut Woods in Los Angeles and my correspondence with the owner has been extremely positive...he seems to specialize in pale moon ebony and definitely takes wood prep and sealing seriously. He seems like a seriously knowledgeable standup guy and so I feel a lot better knowing that it's coming from a reputable source.

A few additional questions based on what you guys shared above:

1. Is it advisable to glue up the topwood to a body core as quickly as possible and then seal it, to help with stability?

2. Or is it preferable to use the stickering method to keep the boards flat while they dry out over an extended period of time?

3. Do I need to continually recoat the ebony with West Systems epoxy as I work the boards?

4. What else am I missing?
 
#8
Lonnybass said:
Team -

Thank you all for your suggestions so far! I knew I could count on you guys for some good advice, and quickly. In answer to the question, the supplier is Well Cut Woods in Los Angeles and my correspondence with the owner has been extremely positive...he seems to specialize in pale moon ebony and definitely takes wood prep and sealing seriously. He seems like a seriously knowledgeable standup guy and so I feel a lot better knowing that it's coming from a reputable source.

A few additional questions based on what you guys shared above:

1. Is it advisable to glue up the topwood to a body core as quickly as possible and then seal it, to help with stability?

2. Or is it preferable to use the stickering method to keep the boards flat while they dry out over an extended period of time?

3. Do I need to continually recoat the ebony with West Systems epoxy as I work the boards?

4. What else am I missing?
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t attach to the main body until I was comfortable with the moisture content and that the ebony wasn’t going to move anymore. Sticker if is probably not needed depending on how well they are dried.
If they are well dried I don’t think recoating is necessary until after final shaping sanding.
You will know better when the boards arrive. Check them with a moisture tester and then you can decide what is needed.
 
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#9
Thank you! I did some more checking with the supplier and here is the information from the website:
----------
  • All our wood has been harvested in Vietnam, rough sawn, and immediately sealed in wax to control moisture loss. It has all been harvested within the last year and as such is being sold as “wet”.
  • We recommend allowing the lumber some time to acclimate to your area’s humidity before cutting.
  • The wax may give a dirty or cloudy appearance to the lumber but is easily removed with planing/sanding.
So the good news is that the boards will be well-prepped before shipping to me with the sealing.

The bad news is that I could conceivably be waiting until 2028 until these boards are ready...(crying)

Another question - is there a target number I should be shooting for with the moisture meter readings?
 
#10
A rule of thumb for MC could be 6-10%, but it varies with the temp and humidity of the environment the wood is in. You're right, you could be waiting a long time to use the Ebony. If I'm using and purchasing those sorts of wood, I prefer purchasing them already dried. I do dry my own locally harvested wood and have access to a vacuum kiln that I've been able to use on occasion.
 
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#13
I do have a moisture tester, yes.

The topwood slab is approximately 24” x 8” x 2” and I have asked my supplier to resaw it for me into 1/2” thick pieces, giving me two sets of bookmatches.

I will double check with him to see if he will be resealing the bookmatches once they are sawn prior to shipping.
 
#15
Lonnybass said:
I do have a moisture tester, yes.

The topwood slab is approximately 24” x 8” x 2” and I have asked my supplier to resaw it for me into 1/2” thick pieces, giving me two sets of bookmatches.

I will double check with him to see if he will be resealing the bookmatches once they are sawn prior to shipping.
Click to expand...
Good he is resawing it to 1/2” and yes they should wax it anew. My board was 2-1/4” which is why it took so long to dry (thicker = more likely to crack or check). Check the moisture content when you get it. My board was at about 15% when I got it. You want to get down to 6-8%. At 1/2” I would leave it in the wax, sticker it and weigh it down. The 1/2” should dry quicker as I had to wait for moisture to propagate from the center before the outer surface dried out and trapped it. That’s where you get twisting and warping when making fresh cuts.
 
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#16
Passing along a quick follow-up, I got some additional information on the status of the slabs:

1. The big bodywood slab is at about 15% on the moisture meter and the fingerboard is at 12% and he expects them to reach a suitable range for building in the next couple of weeks to a month after acclimatizing in my shop here in San Diego.

2. Everything is going to arrive fully sealed up with Anchor Seal.
 
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#17
Lonnybass said:
Passing along a quick follow-up, I got some additional information on the status of the slabs:

1. The big bodywood slab is at about 15% on the moisture meter and the fingerboard is at 12% and he expects them to reach a suitable range for building in the next couple of weeks to a month after acclimatizing in my shop here in San Diego.

2. Everything is going to arrive fully sealed up with Anchor Seal.
Click to expand...
I have to ask the rude question- how expensive were these pieces?
 
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#18
Lonnybass said:
Passing along a quick follow-up, I got some additional information on the status of the slabs:

1. The big bodywood slab is at about 15% on the moisture meter and the fingerboard is at 12% and he expects them to reach a suitable range for building in the next couple of weeks to a month after acclimatizing in my shop here in San Diego.

2. Everything is going to arrive fully sealed up with Anchor Seal.
Click to expand...
What I would do is prep the body to accept the top. Wait for the top wood to reach at least 8% then thickness the pieces. Next attach to the body to stabilize. Try not to have the thicknessed top lying around too long as they could still warp or twist.
P.S. they are very nice looking boards.
 
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