Ipe ?

[Michael James]

My cousin is sending me some Ipe cutoffs from some decking a neighbor did in so Florida. It is referred to also as Ironwood. When a turner talks about a piece of ironwood, is it Ipe? Apparently pretty hard wood. Regardless of what it's called, Im sure I'll get a few pens out of it!
Thanks...
mj

[David E Keller]

There are lots of different kinds of ironwood. Generally, when I hear someone talk about ironwood, I think of desert ironwood(Olneya tesota)... It's absolutely gorgeous stuff. I don't have a lot of experience with the other species, but I believe that they are all hard, dense woods

[Karl Card]

Ipe is also referred to as brazilian walnut. I can definitely see why they would call it ironwood though. It has the fire rating of steel and conrete, last for about 100 years finished and about 70 years unfinished. If it turns a little grey with age you can take a pressure washer to it to get the greay to go away. It is very heavy and very pretty. I have about 350 bd ft of it.

[David Woodruff]

Ipe is hard & dense but is not desert iron wood. About the color of poplar and plain jane grain. Say that three times.

[Gordon Thompson]

Ipe is interesting in the fact that it's the only wood that will sink in water.

[Al Wasser]

I turned a piece of it once. I think one could get bigger chips out of a brick. Definitely very hard stuff.

[David E Keller]

Ipe is interesting in the fact that it's the only wood that will sink in water.

I may be mistaken, but I think desert ironwood will do the same. I think there are actually several different woods that will sink in water. Somebody on here will know whether or not that's true.

[Jake Helmboldt]

Ipe is hard & dense but is not desert iron wood. About the color of poplar and plain jane grain. Say that three times.

Ipe doesn't look at all like poplar and often has very interseting grain. It has a variety of colors from dark coffee brown to a mocha tan or slight orange/reddish tint. It is super hard and machines nicely but requires super sharp tools and can chip out easily. It is an oily wood and super dense. Gluing and finishing can be problematic due to the oils.

[Reed Gray]

There are a number of woods that have specific gravity that exceeds 1.0 (meaning heavier than water). Ipe is one. It reminds me of teak, high oil content, lots of silica so it dulls your tools, turns grey when exposed to the elements, makes great deck wood (I can jump up and down on a 1 by 6 spanning 16 inches and it doesn't bounce, and I am big). It used to be cheap, but then got popular so is more expensive now. Great wood. Pronounced "ee-pay".

robo hippy

[Mike Peace]

I made a few pens out it. They look nice but you want to start with a sharp tool.

[John Coloccia]

The other day, someone brought in a counterbore that was bent like a pretzel. One of his students tried to drill through Ipe a bit too quickly. It is HARD. :D

[Karl Card]

Ipe doesn't look at all like poplar and often has very interseting grain. It has a variety of colors from dark coffee brown to a mocha tan or slight orange/reddish tint. It is super hard and machines nicely but requires super sharp tools and can chip out easily. It is an oily wood and super dense. Gluing and finishing can be problematic due to the oils.


I didnt want to start a fuss but my Ipe doesnt look like poplar at all either. It is very pretty wood.

[Michael James]

I have about 350 bd ft of it.

Karl,
About how many pens will that make?????:eek:

[Frank Van Atta]

Karl,
About how many pens will that make?????:eek:

Optimally, approximately 16,800 :D

[Harvey M. Taylor]

Cocobolo is another wood that will sink in water. It is also oily.
Max if it is to be it is up to me.

[Claude Arragon]

Ironwood, as said before has many species, but rather than the gouge I use dynamite.... :)

[Allen Neighbors]

I've had some Ipe, and some Paulope, and they look very much alike. The Paulope was some scraps that were cut off of a deck built in Florida, and brought to Texas by a friend. He said they used it to make a floating dock for a rowboat in Florida, and discovered it wouldn't float... (how embarrassing!). :D

[Clint Baxter]

Agree with Reed that any of the woods out there with a specific gravity greater than one are going to sink. I know that the two larger pieces of Desert Ironwood I have both do. And keep in mind that individual pieces of a specific species will sometimes have significant differences in their specific gravity.

Lignum Vitae has always been touted as one that won't float with a specific gravity of around 1.37, (desert ironwood is around 1.15).

Interestlngly, Lignum vitae is also sometimes know as ironwood.

Clint