anyone have experience machining ipe?

[jamill]

Ipe ("ee-pay") is a dense, hard (3600 # Janka) South American wood containing (I've been told) lots of silica.

Has anyone had experience milling it?

Any tips?

thanks!

j

[ger21]

Building a deck? Though I've never used it, with most hard exotic woods, (any wood for that matter) SHARP carbide tools are the only way to go.

[jamill]

No deck for me. I rather like the look of the material when polished and was thinking of making replacement sash that has a curve in the topmost rail. It occurred to me that some aspects of the machining might be more akin to metalshaping than woodshaping and that a CNC router might be useful.

I suspect that a traditional millwork shop could fabricate them using a shaper, but for only 4 windows/8 sash/2 sizes total the setup might be a bit pricey. It was my thought that the small piece count, smallish sizes, and relatively simple shapes could possibly be done with less hassle using a CNC router.

james

j

[Patrick2by4]

It might be worthwhile to just use a router. I've used ipe before for jigs and other items. When it is lacquered, it looks like a deep velvet-like chocolate. I love working with it.
From a machining standpoint, use carbide router bits and predrill all the screw holes (because it is so dense). Also, I had good success using standard carpenters wood glue for the glue ups. (sometimes with oily woods like teak, it is recommended to wipe the joint down with lacquer thinner to remove the excess oil. I haven't had this problem with ipe)
one more thing, I've noticed ipe develops small cracks (checks) along the grain. The cracks stayed closed though and doesn't interfere much with the machining.