Ipe wood

[woodworx]

Just finished a 6' tall gate made from Ipe (Brazilian teak). 8/4 arched frame with 4/4 panels inside. Did all my mortising at the joints and dadoing with the machine with the boards standing on end. Barely had enough Z clearance to make it work. I had to set the safe Z @ .05.

I did have some issues gluing it up. I found Gorilla glue won't hold it very well due to the massive amounts of oil in the wood. I glued the boards for thickness and width. I backed up all my gluing with screws and bolts.

In addition to the epoxy I used to keep my mortise and tenon joins from coming out I bolted them all the way through with an hex head sex bolts. It gave the front and back side a very clean finished look.

This is some very, very hard wood to cut. Went through 8 jig saw blades cutting the arch, and now my jig saw sounds worse than a '78 Datsun. Routing was fine. I didn't get much buildup on any bits while machining. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

[gpari]

Jig saw?? what's that?!?


Post up some pics (of the gate, not the jig saw)

Gabe

[knight_toolworks]

no glue works great on ipe. but I have found that gorilla glue used to be the best but it is no more. titebond 3 does a better job but the bond is still not great.
one glue that will work well is e6000 it is a silicone adhesive. it should hold well and with a bit of flex should hold up with lots of movement.

[wberminio]

One most tropical (oily)woods like teak,ipe....
I found, if you wipe denatured alcohol before gluing,the adhesive will give a better bond.
Try It.I been doing this for 20 years.


Erminio

[paulkiecka]

We've used lacquer thinner at our shop to cut the oil.

[knight_toolworks]

do a test I did years ago cleaned one set of ipe pieces with acetone and other solvents one just freshly sanded dampened both sides and glued both with gorilla glue. the cleaned test was weaker. the solvent pulls the oil to the surface. later on one of the woodworking mags did their own test and discovered the same thing. I never tested this myself with epoxy though.

[rcnewcomb]

We have had success with Smith All Wood Epoxy which was designed for use with oily woods. It is available from Luthier's Mercantile International (lmii.com)
-> Link (http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Adhesives&NameProdH eader=Smith+All+Wood+Epoxy)

[woodworx]

the pic

Spread
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e12/Jcrank11/CNC564.jpg


Final
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e12/Jcrank11/gate.jpg


Ha ha
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e12/Jcrank11/Justinspictures252.jpg

[magic]

Boat builders pour acetone all around an area to patch. It chases the water out then it evaporates allowing bondo, fiberglass or glue to hold wood, making the repair. GRAVITY is your friend. the area to glue should be up so the acetone pushes the oils away from the surface, then after the piece is dry, use the epoxy.

I've been using acetone on oily woods before glue-up for many years.

[kerrazy]

Hey guys, there is a fellow shopbotter in Milwaukee, Renner Architects, that is carving one month of history in each deck board of a 1000 linear foot board walk ( that is roughly 2500 boards to be carved). The deck boards are made of Ipe
It takes an average of 3 hours to carve each board. At the time, when I went down to install his machine,we estimated 2.5 years to have all of the boards carved, we are approaching 2 years this January,and I believe our estimate for time ws pretty accurate, there still carving away.

[Gary Campbell]

Guys...
We use both the alcohol wipe and just with a rag for oil removal on Ipe and other oily woods. We only moisten 1 side and glue the other when gluing tho. Havnt had a failure, but also have not tested to see which way may be stronger.
Gary

[knight_toolworks]

dampen both sides it makes a difference. Gorilla recommends it. but I use titebond 3 now it glues up oily woods better. gorilla glue has gotten worse with time. when I first tested it thew ipe joints were stronger then they are now. now the titebond 3 will have a stronger joint. though neither are great. but the joint used to be better.

[Gary Campbell]

Steve..
I bow to your greater knowledge!
from the Gorilla Glue How to Page:

If you’re using Gorilla Glue for the first time, or binding a new type of material, we always recommend trying a test piece first.

Prepare your surface: All surfaces must be clean, dust free and tight fitting. For shiny surfaces, such as metals, glass and some plastics, rough up the material to give the glue something to bite into.

Damp it: Lightly dampen one surface with water. We recommend using a damp cloth or spraying with water. Do not saturate the surface. For dense hardwoods, lightly dampen both surfaces prior to gluing.

Gary