Ipe for workbench top?

[Doug Hobkirk]

Ipe is very hard and very heavy. It's hard to cut. Wouldn't that make it a good wood for a bench top?

I built a front porch floor with Ipe and was very impressed with it.

[Doug Shepard]

Do a search (maybe try the Google search feature). I'm pretty sure somebody here has made one. I've used it too and my glueing experience with it was not real positive. Drilling the dog holes as well as flattening could be a real chore. But it would probabaly last forever (might make your chisels cry like a little girl though:D)

[Tim Sgrazzutti]

I would think it'd be too dark to see things well on.......that's why most benchtops are made from light wood like beech, maple, etc. I think it was Ian Kirby who compared working on a dark benchtop to working in a badly lit room.

I also agree about it being difficult to glue up, and being hard on your tools.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Yah what Tim said. Things get lost on a dark surface.

Maple, Beech, & Pine are all nice materials.


A tad pricey too for something that will get nailed, screwed , chiseled, spilled on, sawn, sliced, and beaten. Well, my benches get threated that way.