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George Stratton

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IPE wood salt box.
Nov 5^th, 2019 at 5:37pm

I just started turning a small swivel top salt box out of a piece of IPE that i picked up at Owl lumber. With my limited turning experience, its easily the hardest material I have tried to turn. No shavings, just dust. Does anyone have experience with this stuff?. They seem to use it more for outdoor decks? Would I be better off with a carbide disk type of tool rather than my cheap hss.? If I can finish this, whats a good finish for a salt box on this stuff. Thanks in advance. Embarrassed

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Robert Fischer

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Re: IPE wood salt box.
Reply #1 - Nov 5^th, 2019 at 7:32pm

I don't have any personal experience with it but the Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to

or

says:

Quote:

Workability: Overall, Ipe is a difficult wood to work, being extremely hard and dense, with high cutting resistance during sawing. Ipe also has a pronounced blunting effect on cutting edges. The wood generally planes smoothly, but the grain can tearout on interlocked areas. Also, Ipe can be difficult to glue properly, and surface preparation prior to gluing is recommended. Straight-grained wood turns well, though the natural powdery yellow deposits can sometimes interfere with polishing or finishing the wood.

So, keep your tools as sharp as you can! Shocked

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Ed Weber WR Administrator WR Patron Offline Posts: 8,998 Wilton California USA Gender:	Re: IPE wood salt box. Reply #2 - Nov 5^th, 2019 at 8:34pm Sharp tools Don't finish it Ipe can dull tools quickly but HSS is good enough to cut it. Finishing it isn't really necessary but you can if you want to. Ipe can be oily and you should use all the normal precautions you would with any other tropical hardwood. A penetrating finish is usually a better option than a film finish.
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George Stratton Senior Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 322 Gender:	Re: IPE wood salt box. Reply #3 - Nov 6^th, 2019 at 9:12am Thanks on that. I'm finding out about the tool dulling already. And it certainly doesn't need a finish so far. The end grain of the top piece is smooth as silk and beautiful as is. Shows all the ring growth really nice. Tough to hollow out the bottom piece so far. My skill doesn't help.
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robo_hippy WR Addict Offline Posts: 3,638 Eugene, OR USA	Re: IPE wood salt box. Reply #4 - Nov 6^th, 2019 at 11:07am Ipe is similar to teak as in lots of silica and oil. Like any harder wood, you have to go more slowly, as in you can't hog off big wide ribbons with this wood. For gluing, you have to wipe it down with acetone first. Probably wet sand with oil to keep the dust down. robo hippy
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Arlin Eastman Senior Member Offline Born in the USA Posts: 466 Council Bluffs Iowa USA Gender:	Re: IPE wood salt box. Reply #5 - Nov 21^st, 2019 at 11:45am Me personally due to the oils I do not use it with food stuff and makes stuff taste bad to..
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George Stratton Senior Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 322 Gender:	Re: IPE wood salt box. Reply #6 - Nov 23^rd, 2019 at 6:39pm Thanks on that Arlin. My Daughter wanted it and filled it with salt. Use's a pinch when she's cooking so probably never gets to the part touching the wood
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Don R Davis Senior Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 342 Murfreesboro Tennessee USA Gender:	Re: IPE wood salt box. Reply #7 - Nov 23^rd, 2019 at 9:06pm Sure would be nice to see a picture of your saltbox.
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George Stratton Senior Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 322 Gender:	Re: IPE wood salt box. Reply #8 - Nov 24^th, 2019 at 2:54pm Here's the only picture i have, my wife took it with her ipad before i gave it to my Daughter. Its hinged with a 3/16 steel dowel between the halves, with the pin glued in the top half. Thanks for asking.
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George Stratton Senior Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 322 Gender:	Re: IPE wood salt box. Reply #9 - Nov 24^th, 2019 at 5:21pm That crack that shows runs through the top as well but hard to see. There's a lot of cracks in the entire piece of wood. And I checked what someone said, the piece I have left won't FLOAT
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Glenn Jacobs WR Addict Offline JC L&S Posts: 2,077 North DFW, Texas Texas USA Gender:	Re: IPE wood salt box. Reply #10 - Nov 25^th, 2019 at 10:25am If you have a concern about oils affecting the taste, could you paint the inside? Glenn J.
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Ed Weber

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Re: IPE wood salt box.
Reply #11 - Nov 25^th, 2019 at 10:47am

Glenn Jacobs wrote on Nov 25^th, 2019 at 10:25am:

If you have a concern about oils affecting the taste, could you paint the inside?

Glenn J.

Ipe is notorious for not taking a finish.
You can use a natural drying oil type of finish like Tung, Teak, Walnut, etc.
Possibly a Danish oil, although I can't say if it would hold up, film finishes usually fail.

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Glenn Jacobs WR Addict Offline JC L&S Posts: 2,077 North DFW, Texas Texas USA Gender:	Re: IPE wood salt box. Reply #12 - Nov 25^th, 2019 at 10:56am Thanks, Ed. Glenn J.
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Pete Staehling

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Re: IPE wood salt box.
Reply #13 - Jan 31^st, 2020 at 12:40pm

I have used tung oil, a hybrid finish (equal parts tung oil, poly varnish, and mineral spirits), and Odie's Oil on Ipe, all with good results when the piece was combined with other species of wood that needed a finish.

That said, for a piece that is just ipe I am generally inclined to just polish the wood with no finish applied. As you have found, it polishes up really nice with no need for a finish.

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