Ebony -Colour and Pinholes

There are always questions about the quality and defects of ebony.
About the color: Ebony will never be deep black as it is cut and sawn, but will always have a fine color palette between light brown stripes, gray areas and a few really dark spots. The almost always desired deep black color develops only after some time, when the wood or the object made from it has received a surface treatment by oiling, waxing or varnishing. Even completely untreated ebony takes on a deep black color over time through the effects of light, oxygen, but also through the touch of the user's hands and skin.
The deep black color of ebony is always a result of the aging of the wood; like almost all woods, ebony darkens considerably over the years under the influence of light, oxygen and fermentation processes.
Oils and fats also play a major role in the development of the color; often the sweat of the hand and the natural little bit of fat from a hand that repeatedly touches ebony is enough to give the wood its much appreciated deep black, fairytale-like color. Every violin, cello or double bass has a deep black fingerboard, as it is touched by the fingers and hands every time it is played.

Holes in ebony: Pinholes are tiny holes in tropical woods caused by fresh wood insects. These holes are often mistaken for defects in the wood. Pinholes are small, harmless holes with a diameter of tenths of a millimeter, caused not by woodworms but by tropical borer insects. In tropical rainforests, these tiny insects feed on the sap flows of trees. The insects usually leave the tree while it is still alive or die shortly after the tree is harvested. These tiny holes are often (in about 50% of cases) found on ebony.
They are not at all comparable to our woodworms and the holes are absolutely harmless, there is no further feeding.
They can be easily removed by simply dipping very thin slivers of ebony in glue, sticking them into the holes, breaking them off after drying and smoothing them out - you won't see a thing! Closing the holes with a little sanding dust after putting a tiny bit of glue in them also works quickly and easily.