Dining Table, Ipe

Great job, good to see you followed through with some good advice on using the breadboards

Ipe….. your a brave man. I hope you have a sharpening stone!

Very nice table. I can certainly appreciate the hard work you had to do in builing it from Ipe…
I have worked with Ipe before and it is a beautiful wood with finished properly…but it is so darn heavy.

-- Every step of any project should be considered your masterpiece if you want the finished product to reflect the quality of your work. http://www.FineArtBoxes.com

Ab-so-lute-ly beautiful table.

Thanks for sharing. Really exceptional outcome!

-- -- Neil

Nice dining room table.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

You are a brave soul! Back in the day when I was making lamps, day in and day out, I, too, thought ipe would be a great wood to try. Most of my lamps were laminates of various woods and then turned on the lathe. The day I turned that lamp with ipe I didn’t realize what I was in for. In the first place that yellow sawdust (which is a misnomer) you can’t call that stuff dust. It’s full of oil that sticks to you, your clothing and all of your tools. I got one incredible headache before donning my hazmat suit to finish the job. In defense of ipe, it is so heavy that I did use it again as the inner layer for my lamps. As I turned my lamps the layer were revealed to show different woods and I never went as deep as the ipe. The weight of the ipe really balance my lamps on the lathe.
But you made a TABLE, wow. I bet it weighs at least a 100 pounds. That wood is beautiful with a polish. Congratulations, Rob.

-- cathyb, Hawaii, www.cathyswoodworking.com

Very well done. I also have experience with ipe. I’ve used it as a decking material and I have made several outdoor furniture pieces. I think it is great for outdoor furniture (if you can put up with working with it). I’ve never seen it used for finer furniture like this table. OTOH – This is beautiful wood and, as your table shows, it can make beautiful furniture.

-- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it.

That is a beautiful table. I really like the way the edge pieces contrast. You should put some more pics up with the whole set, chairs and bench. Also I’d like to see how the extensions work.

-- Jim, Nebraska

JimNEB,

I’ve just finished the bookshelves that accompany this table and bench, and we’re likely to redecorate in our dining room a bit, so I’ll take some shots once we’re complete with that. I’ll see about getting the extensions shot soon though.

thanks to all for your kind comments. I still have some Ipe left, just not sure what to tackle next…..

-- Rob, Elmira ON

your table is gorgeous..you did a very fine job..great joinery and the finish makes it pop..great job rob..

-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']

I am looking to make a dining table for my home, this looks grate. nice job. Ipe is not easy to work with. we have used it alot for hardwood floors.

-- Alex

For anyone thinking about working with Ipe – - The dust is toxic and you should take precautions. I find that it is not too hard to cut with a sharp saw. However, it is very difficult to drill. Drill bits tend to overheat and deteriorate quickly in this wood. Somewhat to my surprise, I found that when putting down some decking I could successfully pierce the wood with my finishing nail gun if the psi was close to the max (about 90). I secured all of my decking with marine glue and finishing nails.

-- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it.

Fine table Rob . I bet it’s really heavy.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/