IPE box

[JohnC Lucas]

I got this wood from JohnK Jordan about a year ago or so.
I turned this Tuesday morning. It was a piece of wood about 6x 12 that had cracks everywhere. I almost threw it away many times but kept it around to show people what kind of wood not to bring to club meetings to give away. All the cracks were highlighted by my friend John K Jordan. Looked pretty useless but I needed some wood to play with hand chasing and thought there might be a 1 or 2" square piece that I could get out of it. I sliced it about a third of the way from the top and it appeared to be pretty solid inside. I can another slice off and then cut 1/2" off all 4 sides. Appeared to be pretty solid so I did some hand chasing. chased threads OK without too much chip out. Any way I decided to make a box a lid out of the rest. The checks went about an inch or so into each end so I made my tenons for the chuck on that end. Turned the box and then the lid. I hollowed the box with 3 Hunter carbide tools. I've included a photo. There is no sanding inside at all. Wish there was a better way to photograph the inside but you have to cut it in half to do that. I threaded the box using the Baxter threader. In the photo it looks like the lid doesn't fit correctly but it joins the base perfectly in real life.

[Dennis Ford]

Very nice work. I really like the form.

[Mel Fulks]

Did not know ipe could look like that. Love the color and grain. But your math eludes me ,how tall is it?

[Robert Hayward]

I also like the form and overall appearance. Nice work John !

[John K Jordan]

I got this wood from JohnK Jordan about a year ago or so.
I turned this Tuesday morning. It was a piece of wood about 6x 12 that had cracks everywhere. ...

The box looks great in person too. Good finish. Very heavy wood.

I thought the best that chunk could be was a door stop or a warm fire. Maybe I should give you the other block now. I can't remember now if I gave you "A" or "B":

382659



JKJ

[JohnC Lucas]

John It was A. Robert. It's about 6" tall. I had to make the lid out of one piece and had to cut away most of it but fortunately had enough. The bottom was made from the other piece and fortunately the cracks didn't go as deep so was able to make the box bottom longer.

[Jay Mullins]

John,very nice lidded box. I'm not sure what "IPE" is, I checked the acronym page and didn't find it.

[George Troy Hurlburt]

Very good, nice looking project. Question on the carbide tool holders. Do you like the round holder shanks, better than the square shanks? Nice taste on the lid.

[John K Jordan]

John,very nice lidded box. I'm not sure what "IPE" is, I checked the acronym page and didn't find it.

Hey Jay, I'll answer for Turner John since I was Wood Acquisition John in this case. :) It was sold by another common name, Brazilian Walnut. It is nothing like "our" walnut - compare the numbers, twice the density and three times the Janka hardness!:

http://www.wood-database.com/ipe/

JKJ

[Mark Greenbaum]

I just used Brazilian Wanut for stair noses in front of maple flooring. Dang, that stuff is so hard and brittle - the first nails I installed about 1.5" from end and it split to the ends. From then on I pre-drilled and hand drove the finish nails. Apparantly the folks in Mobile, AL can't count - I ordered 3 pcs, and they shipped 4 pcs. Normally $10/l.f., but caught a sidebar special for $0.15/l.f. - a buck a stick, and $25 for shipping to the house. I saved all of the scraps for future segmented bowl turnings.

[JohnC Lucas]

George. I don't' see a lot of difference in the way I use the Hunter tools between square and round. He only offers a few in square, the Hercules and Hercules mini and the new Viceroy which is rectangular. Those were designed to be used as scrapers, this the flat bottom. I find however that if need be they can be tilted and used as bevel rubbing tools. The tools I showed only come in round shank versions.

[Jay Mullins]

Thank you John, I try to check the acronym list but in this case didn't find it.

Jay

[Mike Nathal]

It is not an acronym. Ipe is the complete name for the wood species.

[Mel Fulks]

It is not an acronym. Ipe is the complete name for the wood species.
Yes. But the more common mistake is calling abreviations acronyms. If they can't be pronounced as a word ,they are mere abreviations.

[Reed Gray]

Oh, it is pronounced eee'-pay as well..., not like yipes!!! Not sure if I have heard it called Brazilian Walnut though. Color range can be huge, with greenish tint being common with streaking of reds and oranges. Don't think I have seen the color in the pictures up above though...

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

Oh, it is pronounced eee'-pay as well..., not like yipes!!! Not sure if I have heard it called Brazilian Walnut though. Color range can be huge, with greenish tint being common with streaking of reds and oranges. Don't think I have seen the color in the pictures up above though...

From the Wood Database, it is call ed Ipe, Brazilian Walnut, or Lapacho
Scientific Name: Handroanthus spp. (formerly placed in the Tabebuia genus)

For a zillion photos: http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/ipe.htm

To put it in perspective, Ipe is a touch lighter in weight than Mountain Mahogany but significantly harder on the Janka scale (15,620 N vs 14,230 N). Mature Ipe trees are larger, 2-4' dia.

JKJ

[Alex Zeller]

I'm amazed that you could turn the stuff. I've only used it for decking and the stuff has an unbelievable amount of silica in it. It seamed to dull almost anything I threw at it in a short amount of time.

[JohnC Lucas]

It's called "eee_pay because when you buy it's you "will-pay"

[Reed Gray]

When I first got some, years ago, it was going for $3/bf.... I am a bit surprised that it is harder than Mountain Mahogany... That is really hard. You can lay a board out in the sun and see it glitter from all of the silica. If I rip it on the table saw with a zero clearance insert, you get a pile of resin where the blade goes through the insert... Interesting stuff..

robo hippy

[JohnC Lucas]

I use Thompson tools and didn't have any trouble turning it. I was slow going on the inside so I switched to my Hunter carbide tools. They leave such a nice finish on hard woods.