Ebony must be selected for colour, grain and texture first, as these vary very much; the cuts near the bark or outside surface often contain sand and other foreign substances which dull the edges of the tools employed. Ebony may be turned in the lathe, using, for small work, two gouges, one for roughing out and the second for finishing. The tool is held above the centre, a high speed is employed, and light cuts are continually taken, the finishing cut Leaving a dead polish which only needs a handful of turnings held against the work while revolving to brighten it. A piece of blanketing with a few drops of linseed oil finishes the work. More elaborate forms of ebony work are cut with a, revolving drill in the La and there is also an automatic lathe for turning out handles in quantities. Ebony in the fiat is first sawn with a fine circular saw into slabs or veneers. Further shaping may be done with a hand or power fret-saw. The finishing is done by fine rasping and filing, and the polishing is begun by scraping with a sharp knife or a proper scraping tool, always scraping in one direction; the polishing is completed by dollying off on a felt dolly driven by power, the dolly being kept moistened with linseed oil.