Ebony Pieces Cracking

You do realize that no one here is obligated to answer your questions? Your rude behavior actually makes it less likely.

Wood is a living material, even when treated right it can behave unexpectedly. No one can promise you with 100% certainty that it will not crack given the right (or perhaps wrong) conditions. Given your experience most imported wood products are probably more likely to develop cracks over time in your environment.

I agree, you definitely do not get it.

Not my problem, and I have better things to do. See ya.

In the winter, I move all my chess sets into the living room where I can better control the humidity. For the benefit of my chess pieces (and my sinuses) I keep the indoor humidity close to 50%. I also use Briwax on the pieces and boards, and store the boards upright in padded cases. So far so good.

Kinda do the same thing here Lou, except I use a very light coat of "Renaissance Wax" when I first get the pieces. This insures keeping the pieces natural moister in so they don't over dry out. Also when not in use, I keep each piece individually in "Velvet Nylon Lined Jewlery Pouches" and put them back in their "Storage Box" with one packet of the "Boveda Humidity Control". Since I've been doing this, I haven't had one single genuine ebony or any wood piece for that matter crack or have any problem of any kind.

I did not obligate Dunce to answer my question. 

But thanks for giving me that undue power.

Seeing that I was replying to a rude response ("Um, yea, actually...."), I say, I really haven't lost very much.

Well, let me ask you: what do you know of my experience? Are you even sure this is my first chess set with imported wood? What do you know about my "environment"? It's almost as if you're you are Dunce using a smurf screen name, but that doesn't even matter.

I was asking a very simple scientific question about American Holly: if, by its specific nature and properties, it would crack under the same conditions as Gaboon Ebony. No one ever made the focus of my inquiry at hand about me not taking care of my Ebony chess piece or that the wood needs to find a better suited environment. Obviously, Dunce's divergent answer (and the very fact that he continued defensively to argue on it) wasn't helpful. While there's certainly validity in the sentiment, eluding my scientific inquisition  with a general "You're not taking care of it/You need to find a better environment for it/No one knows for certain if a wood would or wouldn't crack" is ultimately not providing the answer he/you are hoping it would.

Blanket answers simply for the sake of appearing involved and helpful really doesn't do anyone, especially the responder, any good.

Twisting the meaning of a sentence to fit an emotional response in an argument is surely one of the most childish conversational behaviour in the book.

It was fun while it lasted.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=American+Holly+moisture+content

Gomer_Pyle, that response was simply to let Dunce know that he didn't answer my question.

I know there's google. I've taken the research in my own hands.

American Holly from India (?) might also crack when transported to another climate. What I meant by your experience is that if one wood cracks in your climate, any wood from India might very well do the same. Or it might not. This is not an exact science. I've also had enough of you now, good luck.

edited out....

This conversation has gotten rather silly over the pettiest of things. As stated, I've already taken the research into my own hands; this board was merely one area where I chose to include my inquisition about Holly (and Holly alone), which didn't work out too well, and that's fine. All in a good day. 

As for you, Rosenbalm,

My question to you is why you chose to butt in in the first place, provided that you weren't talking about ebony cracking. Did you decide to take sides at a moment's annoyance only to realize that there was more to both sides than what you saw?

I say, if you're not going to help the solution, please don't contribute to the problem.

OK, well if it is made in the US then you might not have the same problem of changes in humidity, assuming the wood is cured and sealed properly. I did not know that there was anyone manufacturing chess pieces in the US. Almost all high end chess sets, especially those in exotic woods like ebony and rosewood are manufactured in India. Why don't you ask the craftsman of his opinion on the wood?

Anything wooden can crack whenever there are significant changes in humidity - particularly when the air gets drier (like in winter when your heat is on - if you live somewhere with winter weather). The wood shrinks and the grains separate due to the shrinkage. Note that this has absolutely nothing to do with where in the world the wood comes from.

- less complicated than an instrument or humidor humidifier... If you're afraid your pieces are drying out then put a piece of apple (or a couple of crab apples (no joke) in the case with them. After a week or so, buff them with wax.  they'll be good for many years afterward...

blastforme, that's a really interesting fact about apples. After gluing my cracked ebony pieces, I might just try that. (If I ever get to commission a woodeworker, who won't try to scam me due to my soft-hearted naivete, to craft me a chessbox that would fit my large set.)

Where particularly did you learn this? Also, what about the apple that makes it beneficial?

Would pears also work? 

I'm not an expert on the properties of different species of wood, but speaking from an engineering perspective, its highly likely that different species will have different susceptibilities.  It all has to do with their propensity to absorb and to emit moisture from/to the surrounding air. I would suspect it has to do with both how pourous and how oily they are, and also (perhaps more importantly), on what type of mill cut was used to bring them to size before turning them (like what angle the grain is on wrt the "core" of the tree/branch/stick/etc....)

On the use of apples discussed above - you can use anything that has moisture in it that will be released over time. Apples work surprisingly well for this. Some people use a damp sponge in a perforated bag/container to humidify their wooden instrumements. This could probably be made to work fine in a chess piece box - but apples work for this really well and are just easier I think...

I agree as any of the chess pieces will crack, and to tell you I bought a Collector's set on sale just 2 months ago from HOS in rosewood and boxwood. Two rosewood and 1 boxwood pieces came through cracked. The rosewood queen had a very wide crack in it the other two not super obvious but easily seen.  Now this came from what most call a number 1 retailer and has nothing to do with ebony.  

Does it have anything to do with overweighting them? 

Hmmm.. is there a weight inside? - there must be, eh? Id wager a guess that if the weight is press-fitted inside, then when the piece shrinks that tiny bit that it does as it adjusts to a drier environ, it would crack because the metal weight wouldn't allow for the shrinkage.., but not seeing the peice it's just a SWAG.  but again... it could crack due to the shrinkage without that happening...

BattleChessGN18 wrote:

I've learned that Holly is a much more dependable wood than Ebony when it comes to cracking. I'm wondering if density has t least a little to do with it, since Holly's is only about 1/3 of Ebony's. None of that matters, I got my answer. And so, I can now go forward with my commission on a Bloodwood/Holly chess set for my little cuz's birthday. 

But now, back to my own ebony pieces:

I think they've stopped at this point; though, I could wrong. A total of 9 pieces of my 37-piece Ebony army has cracked; the biggest of them being on one of my Bishops.

This is what it looks like before I'm bringing it to my local craftsman for repair. I'll post the update in days as to what it looks like after.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

IMHO-That is from improper weighting not bad ebony. Weighting needs expansion room... My modern ebony pieces have absolutely no cracks anywhere and most are years old. I've always insisted on custom builds, but it costs... Improper weighting to tight is the leading cause for multiple pieces in a set cracking. Yes, humidity and temps have effects too if ebony is not aged properly as well and that's why you want to insure before a set is padded there is room inside for expansion etc. Ebony is and will always be the Rolls Royce of wood for black pieces in the chess collecting world :)

Robb, Bloodwood and Holly sound like a great combination for a chess set. Who may I ask is working with Holly?  I never see it as an option for a woof for a chess set. I have seen it on boards a few times though. 

Howdy Mike... Sounds like a good looking set :) But, it's funny that folks don't seem to think that other woods don't crack. I've known guys at the country club with 100 year old ebony Jaques sets that don't have a single crack in them. I've also seen at the club almost every type of wood that had cracks including boxwood due to improper weighting. Heck, I've even showed pics before of a plastic pawn crack due to improper weighting. Expansion and shrinkage is natural for any wood material no matter what it is. Of course humidity, temps, and aging have their effects too, but they are controlable. Keeping your storeage room at 50% humidity and temps at a constant 65-75 is all good, but if pieces are improperly weighted or cared for they will eventually and usually crack no matter what the wood.