Ipe wood

Ian Fifelski · Mar 21, 2018

I have access to a good but of Ipe wood and I am wondering if anyone has tips for using it. I know it doesn't have much figure but it is a very strong wood.

Do any of you fine gents have tips for making it more beautiful? Are there any colors to contrast with that will help if I use it as a wood bolster piece or with liners?
Or should I let it alone and only use it for hard use knives that don't need to look pretty?

Thanks

Kevin McGovern · Mar 21, 2018

I have used it on several kitchen knives. Make sure it is DRY. It takes a long time to dry. Working it can be tough on tooling as it is not only very hard, but has a high silica content. Wear a respirator.

MBB · Mar 21, 2018

You can get figured ipe. I got some nicely curly pieces from Woodworkers Source recently after specifying that I wanted figured wood in uniform brown shades. The latter is important as a lot of it tends to look green (kind of like poplar).

Assuming you can get the good stuff, I'd contrast it to black/dark brown bolsters.

Here's a link to an old post:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/finishing-ipe-questions.986714/

Rhinoknives1 · Mar 21, 2018

Always wear a resperator when grinding steel, wood, Any materials.. Any fine dust will destroy your lungs overtime.—-/Especially the stuff we work with!

timos- · Mar 22, 2018

It can look very nice, this is some quilted i got a while ago. Overall it is a pretty neutral tone and can go well with alot of things.

Ian Fifelski · Mar 22, 2018

MBB said:
You can get figured ipe. I got some nicely curly pieces from Woodworkers Source recently after specifying that I wanted figured wood in uniform brown shades. The latter is important as a lot of it tends to look green (kind of like poplar).

Assuming you can get the good stuff, I'd contrast it to black/dark brown bolsters.

Here's a link to an old post:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/finishing-ipe-questions.986714/

I have seen some really nice Ipe. The thing is that I can't be choosy because its a bunch that my boss has. He is making benches with it and said he will give me any leftovers. I've looked over it all a good bit and its all a very nice shade of brown but barely any figure.

MBB · Mar 23, 2018

You just need to convince him that anything with figure will warp over time.

skillgannon · Mar 23, 2018

Try dressing it up with another piece of wood or accent color. Also a bamboo backed up bow is supposed to be the big deal in wooden bows right now if you want a new hobby. Now that I think about it I made someone a cane once by laminating raw bamboo on some jatoba that was about the same color. It looked pretty good. I keep kicking myself in the butt for giving it away.