That issue is resolved and I'm starting this thread to chronicle the rest of the project.
Today I started cutting the IPE !! I'm starting with an 18" square end table, to see how it goes. So far so good. My miter saw has a 12" carbide 80?-tooth blade in it and easily plows through the notoriously hard wood. Here's my setup and DIY stop block.
Here you can see the entire top surface. To my great delight, these were cut from a single 1x4 plank with fresh cut ends and literally zero scrap. I didn't plan it that way but that's how it worked out.
The panels (mullions?) are cut long so that the tongues can be cut later.
I'm getting clean cuts with only a tiny amount of tearing so far. We'll see how the blade holds up.
Wayne - what do you mean by "in line" photos ?
there are all kinds of ways to manipulate and post photos.
depending on what you are processing the photos with, (phone, PC, etc).
The wood I'm using comes from Iron Woods. It's nominal 1" and I expected 3/4" actual but it appears to be ~0.79" or 13/16".
I went to see what the specs are and notice they offer a bunch of technical information. In one pdf I discovered they recommend applying end grain sealer to fresh cuts. The information is targeted to installing the wood as decking (ie. outdoors). I'm wondering if I should be doing this for my project? I've never used such a product.
Wayne - try using just one of the photo options - not both and see what happens.
I am thinking that when you used the Drag n Drop option after the Choose URL option,
that is where the redundant photos come from.
just my guess . . . . I have never used both at the same time.
Wayne - check your PM messages.
Admin and I are working on getting your photos aligned.
sorry for the inconvenience. hopefully, we can solve this issue soon
and get your post formatted the way you intended it to be.
I don't know for sure but speculate since you will be finishing the wood and doing joinery you would not end seal. Hopefully someone will come along and give you a more authoritative answer. I assume the sealing the ends would help it to not split at the ends as they dry quicker than the side grain. As you work on your joints and glue that will seal the ends. Then if you finish the table that will help the wood to dry evenly, the ends would maybe not dry faster with the finish.
Cleaned up the blood splatter and swept the floor a little, and got back to it today!
Here's how I'm cutting the bulk away with the saw before using the router for the grooves, and then the finished groove.
And then I used my tenoning jig to cut the tenons. Took a while to tweak the the positions to get everything the way I wanted it, but I'm happy so far with how it's going. This wood is wild stuff - resembles hard plastic.
Call me old fashioned, but anything that is going to have food and drinks on it will make you sorry you didn't use a hard finish, unless you plan on oiling it regularly.
Ipe requires no finish. In fact most finishes wont even stick to it (lacquers will simply flake off). Even food and drinks, it doesnt require a finish. Its not open grained and its smooth, hard, and extremely oily on its own. Polyurethane doesnt even adhere to it well.
Ditto the comments from @bob493. I don't have personal experience to cite but everything I've read says much the same thing. You can apply oil to undo the greying from aging, but that's it. An IPE deck is good for 75 years or more. I'm not worried about the condensate off my gin and tonic. :wink:
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