Anyone know anything about Ipe` wood?

[Sam Salvati]

Scored some 2"x4" and soem 1 1/2" square and some 1"x4" pieces and a 4"x4" piece, wondering what I should know before working with it, hazards, uses, etc.

 

[gixxer]

the dust is super bad for you, it is super hard, and it chips real easy when you drop it, and sometimes the ends chip when you cut the stuff on the table saw. Cause it is so hard mere mortal hands and sandpaper take FOREVER to remove material when shaping, and it burns real fast if you use dull power tools on it. I like the chatoyance though, and the stuff is super cheap to get even the figured stuff.

 

[gixxer]

 

[hellgap]

Stabilize it and youll love it . I just did a knife with it and the depth and grain detail is killer. kellyw

 

[Troop]

Sam, you don't need to stabilize it. The stuff is perfect for handle material. The dust is about the most harmful stuff around, both to inhale and to get on your skin. I wear a one of those protective paper suits that you get over at the Home Depot, as well as a respirator, and rub Ivy Block on the exposed parts of my face.
I just heard a story about a contractor who had to be rushed to the ER because he inhaled some of the dust while installing a deck. The dust is no joke.
The Ipe that I've used doesn't have that chatoyance that I see in the pics above, though.

 

[DC KNIVES]

I have some,one of the hardest out there.I had zero problems with the dust, but you should take precautions and not work like me.As said hard to sand and cut.Dave


http://dcknivesandleather.blademakers.com/

 

[Rowanwood]

I heard it has a very high level of silicon, and therefore is very hard. It will not rot, and is used in boardwalks and decks. It will dull your tools extremely fast, and the dust is toxic like everyone else said.

 

[MSCantrell]

Well let's not get carried away; I mean, it's not harder to sand or cut than steel. Or even brass. Just hard by comparison to pretty much any other wood except lignum vitae.

Here's one more thing- it changes color pretty dramatically from bright yellow when freshly cut to sailor's-skin brown after a few days.


Mike

 

[Michael J. Spangler]

i scored a ton from cut offs of decking from a house on the vineyard. they had something goofy like a 7'9" deck of something and got all 12' boards...

and i had some thicker tongue and groove that was used a flooring in a horse barn.

i have had no issues grinding the stuff... it is pretty hard and splinters easily, i guess it does make your nose tingle a little just like cocobola does... is that bad?

ask Paul he has worked with it more than me. i just use it for backing up my handle material when i drill through it.