Turning Ipe

[Whaler]

Has anyone turned any?
Yesterday a contractor friend gave me some beautiful cut offs which fit in the pen and bottle stopper size range.
Any suggestions?

[final_t]

The desisty is really high on this wood, so I would expect it would be like turning Coran (or whatever it's called - countertop stuff).
Send me some and I'll tell you!

[MikeMcCoy]

I've turned a couple but did about triple the sharpening in the process. I turned some Dymonwood about the same time and they were comparable as far as density.

[Whaler]

I tried a piece of that Ipe today.
Harder than H but not to bad to turn. I'm not impressed with the results though.

[Scottydont]

Harder than ****, dulls your tools faster than a 5 year old. I agree about the not impressed with the look (my experience too.)

[Uncle Cracker]

I ran a 52" piece through my Veritas doweling rig, and had to sharpen all the blades after. Fortunately for my lathe and tools, all i did on it there was sand and finish. Sanded nicely, but I wouldn't want to keep up with the tool sharpening that would surely result from working with it much.

[don_hart]

Use it all of the time

I use it often and it turns well. I have done quite a few pens out of this material. Here are a few examples http://www.hartwoodcrafts.com/pens/pensmat.asp?mat=IPE

It is a very dense wood but I find it easy to turn. It will dull your tools like any other dense hardwood.

Don