Carbide Reciprocating blades for Ipe ?

[Cr23484]

Hi Everyone,
I need to make one straight cut into a Ipe 4” by 4” by 12’ piece.
Will a super sawzall (cordless) with EZARC Carbide tipped blades 9” long with
3 tpi cut it, or am I wasting my time ?
Thanks again,
J

 

[Martin W]

With the grain or cross grain? It will make the cut. How straight I don’t know? Not sure what you are attempting? Bandsaw would work better if you have access to one. Ipe is fairly hard to work with. Sharp tools are a must.
Cheers
Martin

 

[MrWhoopee]

Carbide does not seem the appropriate choice for LPE. A good sharp, coarse pitch blade intended for wood will probably work better. Keeping blade speed slow to avoid melting is important.

 

[Cr23484]

Thanks,
Just a 90

With the grain or cross grain? It will make the cut. How straight I don’t know? Not sure what you are attempting? Bandsaw would work better if you have access to one. Ipe is fairly hard to work with. Sharp tools are a must.
Cheers
Martin

Thanks,
90 degrees crosscut
Just need to make it about 8’ and 4’

 

[Cr23484]

Carbide does not seem the appropriate choice for LPE. A good sharp, coarse pitch blade intended for wood will probably work better. Keeping blade speed slow to avoid melting is important.

Thanks,
How would a 60 tooth thin kerf blade 8 1/2” on my Hitachi sliding miter saw ?
Does it need a coarse blade ?
J

 

[mike44]

Hi Everyone,
I need to make one straight cut into a Ipe 4” by 4” by 12’ piece.
Will a super sawzall (cordless) with EZARC Carbide tipped blades 9” long with
3 tpi cut it, or am I wasting my time ?
Thanks again,
J

Don't bother with a Sawzall, a hand held circular saw will do. Use a 24 TPI or less blade and cut to 2-1/4" deep using a fence. Lacking a fence , make a jig with 1/4" plywood the length of the saw base and 3" wider. Drill 4 holes in the saw base for screws and nuts. Attach the plywood with the screws .
Screw or bolt a scrap 1x for a straight edge that will give you a 2" cut. Make cut, flip over and saw the rest with the straight edge against the same side as the first saw cut. This should give you a decent pair of 2x2x12' boards. I have worked with Ipe only twice . I recall it was difficult to drill, not sure about ripping or crosscutting as this was 15+ years ago. The fellow I was working with carried a bunch of cut offs to a trashcan when 1 piece fell off. The 10" 2x6 sunk right to the bottom of a kids pool. We were amazed, tried a small piece about 3"x 6" and it sank too.
mike

 

[MrWhoopee]

A circular/miter saw will create enough heat to cause the LPE to melt. How about

 

[Cr23484]

Than

Don't bother with a Sawzall, a hand held circular saw will do. Use a 24 TPI or less blade and cut to 2-1/4" deep using a fence. Lacking a fence , make a jig with 1/4" plywood the length of the saw base and 3" wider. Drill 4 holes in the saw base for screws and nuts. Attach the plywood with the screws .
Screw or bolt a scrap 1x for a straight edge that will give you a 2" cut. Make cut, flip over and saw the rest with the straight edge against the same side as the first saw cut. This should give you a decent pair of 2x2x12' boards. I have worked with Ipe only twice . I recall it was difficult to drill, not sure about ripping or crosscutting as this was 15+ years ago. The fellow I was working with carried a bunch of cut offs to a trashcan when 1 piece fell off. The 10" 2x6 sunk right to the bottom of a kids pool. We were amazed, tried a small piece about 3"x 6" and it sank too.
mike

Thanks
Want to keep it 4 by 4 by 8’ and 4 by 4 by 4’
( give or take an inch or so).
J

 

[mikey]

Ipe is really hard and dense. I used it to make custom bow grips that last forever but it is a hard to cut. My friend was a cabinetmaker before he died and their shop used Ipe-eater blades. You can still get them here. Or you can try an alternating top bevel blade like I used when I used to work with that stuff.

And you guys are right - it won't float.

 

[Jackle1312]

The miter saw will cut it. Ipe will tear up any blade you use so cut it with anything you have available. Carbide is recommended but your only making one cut so don't worry too much. If your lucky its one of the other species that gets mixed in with it that is a little nicer to work with.