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ipe for fingerboard
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=36412		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  RWGoodman [ Mon May 07, 2012 3:51 pm ]
Post subject:  ipe for fingerboard
I am wondering how ipe would work as a fingerboard. Anyone have any experience with it? Looks ugly green unfinished but a decent brown with oil on it.
Author:  Corky Long [ Tue May 08, 2012 3:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: ipe for fingerboard
Good luck trying to cut it. I had a waste piece from a decking project that I sanded down and put some lacquer finish, then tru oil on it. Ended up looking really nice. But man, it's heavy.
Author:  Lincoln Goertzen [ Wed May 09, 2012 3:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: ipe for fingerboard
I'm about to use some for a guitar that I hope to have finished in a couple of months. I already have had the frets in for about 8 months, and they are holding well, in spite of the weather changes of fall, winter, and spring.

Ipe is not a really specific name. It's a little like "ebony" in that regard. What I am using is Tabebuia guayacan, for what it is worth. Yep, it's really hard, and yep, it's harder to work than ebony, but I plan to use it again.

Hope that helps.
Author:  Stuart Gort [ Wed May 09, 2012 3:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: ipe for fingerboard
After recently processing a lot of differnet woods for fretboards...I like the way Ipe works as a fretboard. Of course, I have yet to see what tonal difference it makes but I'm beginning to doubt the importance of woods when it comes to tonal aspects of electric guitars. I'm certainly going to find out. So far, I've done Gabon Ebony, Ipe, Argentinian Brown Ebony, Brazilian Rosewood, Purple Heart, and Maple, Cocobolo.

Best I can see so far is that Ipe is going to be an effective fretboard.... :)

I'd like to hear Todd eloborate on what he means by calling it "abrasive". I assume that just means that it is hard on tooling.

It certainly polishes up nice and I like the color...it's a nice choice when you're looking for a homogenous color without too much wild grain. The shot I posted called "Ipe Color" pretty well captured the actual color of this piece....not so much on the shot called "Ipe Polish".

I like it....but the Brown Ebony is my favorite.
Author:  munen [ Wed May 09, 2012 6:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: ipe for fingerboard
Zlurgh wrote:
After recently processing a lot of differnet woods for fretboards...I like the way Ipe works as a fretboard. Of course, I have yet to see what tonal difference it makes but I'm beginning to doubt the importance of woods when it comes to tonal aspects of electric guitars. I'm certainly going to find out. So far, I've done Gabon Ebony, Ipe, Argentinian Brown Ebony, Brazilian Rosewood, Purple Heart, and Maple, Cocobolo.

Best I can see so far is that Ipe is going to be an effective fretboard.... :)

I'd like to hear Todd eloborate on what he means by calling it "abrasive". I assume that just means that it is hard on tooling.

It certainly polishes up nice and I like the color...it's a nice choice when you're looking for a homogenous color without too much wild grain. The shot I posted called "Ipe Color" pretty well captured the actual color of this piece....not so much on the shot called "Ipe Polish".

I like it....but the Brown Ebony is my favorite.


about argentinian brown ebony, are you talking about Caesalpinia paraguariensis? what its called here Guayacán
if it is so, it has a reputation for a very dense and hard wood. I should get some one of these days.
there is also lignum vitae even denser but colour is brown and green sometimes with yellow waves.
Author:  Stuart Gort [ Wed May 09, 2012 7:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: ipe for fingerboard
I couldn't say what it was other than what the wood dealer called it..."Argentinian Brown Ebony"....sry.

There's a good shot of it in my post in the monthly thread.

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=36390&start=25
Author:  Stuart Gort [ Fri May 11, 2012 12:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: ipe for fingerboard
I was aware, prior using Ipe for these fretboards, that it was a utility wood and that it was basically, one of the hardest species. I picked it up because I was rummaging around in the wood shop and saw these Ipe billets and found the hardness and grain characteristics alluring. The color and its non-descript, homogenous grain made it a good aesthetic choice in certain circumstances.

As a very hard, heavy wood, I'm guessing that the initial processing (felling and handling of trees) makes it prone to stress cracking. On nearly every billet I observed minute stress cracks but I did find several that were free of cracks. I was worried that it wouldn't be until after polishing that I would discover unseen cracks but I was pleasantly rewarded with none.

I use nothing but carbide blades (Lenox Woodmaster CT - 1.3 tpi bandsaw blade) and carbide milling bits. I didn't make nearly enough fretboards to draw any conclusion as to how abrasive the material actually is. So...my experience indicates little but I do expect, nevertheless, that it Ipe will wreck non-carbide tooling in fairly short order.
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