I have a friend who wants me to build him another table. The proportions of
the table would amount to a relatively large coffee table. It will actually
be used for writing, but due to a back problem, he is most comfortable
sitting on the floor, which is why the table height will be about 14". We
looked at lumber today, and he is really enamoured with making the top from
padauk and the base from Gaboon ebony. He's aware that just the lumber to
make the base will run somewhere around $800-900. Around here, Gaboon ebony
is $112/BF. My question is: assuming money is not the greatest concern, is
there anything inherently nuts about making a table base from ebony?

todd