Does anyone know of a source for ipe lumber in sizes greater than “4/4?” There is plenty availability of the stuff for decking and it’s all 4/4 milled to 3/4″. Some sites have very small pieces of 6/4 for accessory use in decking.
I’d like to get 6/4 or 8/4 lumber for some outdoor furniture and I’m striking out.
Rich
Rich
Don’t ever learn anything new. Rather than give you satisfaction that you know more than you did, it will only confirm you know less than you thought by opening horizons to things of which you had never dreamt and which you now must explore.
Replies
Rich14,
Anderson McQuaid in Cambridge/Arlington, MA has the stuff.
Ps. I thought about building outside furniture but wasen't sure I'd be able to lift and move it...very heavy
Edited 9/6/2005 6:05 pm ET by BG
and I'm striking out...
Me too... I have no idea where your ARE! Profile should at least show what state ya in!
Coastal Forest Products is where andersen mcquaid gets their ipe they are the main distributor for the northeast. If your in NY or New England then call coastal and they will be able to tell you who their ipe customers are in the area. Also, any lumber yard will be able to get ipe from their supplier, just because they don't stock it, doesn't mean they cannot get it.
One thing about larger stock ipe besides the weight is it gets very expensive very quickly.
http://www.coastalforestproducts.com/shop/shop.htm
Edited 9/6/2005 9:17 pm ET by DDay
Thanks guys,I've just moved to Prescott, Az from Maui, HI. It took me more than 10 days to re-register here. The site just wouldn't respond to the combination of my new ISP/Mac/Firefox. I finally had to log in from work on a, (*shudder*), PC, using *ugh*, Internet Explorer. I guess I need to get into my profile and add some information.Yes, the weight issue is real. Ipe feels almost twice as heavy to me as teak. But I've examined some ipe chairs and a small "love seat." They felt very solid. They were heavy, but not that problematic. Teak is just too expensive for serious consideration and I have wanted to make some items from ipe for a while. I'm working out the design. Ipe is not just heavy, it is very strong and they will be much less "ponderous-looking" than some classic teak outdoor furniture.The local lumber suppliers here don't seem interested in ordering sizes greater than 4/4.While I'm on the topic, does anyone have any opinions about use of mahogany for outdoor furniture?
Rich, I used to live in Williams and got some pretty good hardwood lumber at a place just N. of Prescott in the industrial area. You may already know the place and sorry I can't recall the name after 8 yrs gone.
Thanks,
Probably Stanley Lumber.
I've gotten 2x and 4x4 Ipe at Public Lumber in Detroit. Ditto on WillGeorge's comments - if you put your location in your profile, it would help.
http://www.publiclumber.com/index.html
Just FYI - any outdoor Ipe furniture you make is going to weight a ton. I built a couple of chaise lounge chairs (Norm's design) out of it and each one realistically takes 2 people to confortably carry it. It's also a bear to work with. On the plus side, they look good and nobody's going to steal them (at least not by theirselves).
Waddaya mean it wont fit through the door?
Rich -
Most Ipe is sold for decking and I have found that grade is not fit for other woodworking. It's dried to quickly and has lots of minute surface cracks. Almost impossible to see till finishing out.
Clarks Lumber here in Houston does have some good quality Ipe in dimensions intended for use other than for decking. 8/4, 6/4, 4/4. 95% of their stock however is intended for decking, and they have LOTS of it.
But, Ipe is a bugger to work with. Lots of splinters and hard as heck on blades and bits. When routing edges, I suggest you use several small passes. I does turn well and makes beautiful handles for tools.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
Thanks everyone,I can't find anyplace to enter my location in my profile. I've gone into "Update Profile." Nothing there. Where do we enter such information?Rich
Rich, I am a Mac guy also (OSX 10.4,Safari) The profile thing is buggy for me but it appears at the top of the page right under "House Chat" I still live on Maui (27 years) and I suspect you may need to reenter all your info as a new member and it will give you a Profile option. aloha, mike
Mike,
Would you by any chance be the Mike who works (or did a few years ago) at the Outrigger in Wailea?
Wayne
<Would you by any chance be the Mike who works (or did a few years ago) at the Outrigger in Wailea?.>No, thats the other Mike........ Seriously, I never worked at the Outrigger. Wailea Point, Kaanapali, Makena...I did all those.....with help, of course. aloha, mike
Edited 9/7/2005 12:49 am ET by mikegagne
Mike,Thanks. Locating the link is not the problem. In the Profile Update page, the only information to enter is name, email, password, security options and email notification options from Taunton about their promotions.Nothing that appears to other members.Rich
OK,Now I've found it. I have to click on my screen name to get into the section to actually edit my "profile." That area has "Main Profile" which has a location entry, "Personal," "Favorites," View Friends." There are also Preferences to be set there.Clicking on the link, "Update Profile" takes me to a "Main Profile" page, only, that is a completely different editing area from the above Main Profile area. Some of the items in this section are also found in the other "Profile" section under Preferences.Confusing. And poorly implemented.Rich
Confusing. And poorly implemented.especially for us Mac users so used to elegant easy interfaces.......How do the Wintellers stand it? aloha, mike
Shhh!
We'll start another Mac vs PC war here.
I have to use a Windows machine in my day job, in the second largest bureaucracy on Earth, and deal with an IT department which views the needs of the employees as an annoyance and interference with their "real work," whatever that is. These guys have been trained on Windows. Many have never, ever seen or used any other OS. Not Mac, not UNIX, nada! Scary.
I hate everything about Windows.
Rich
<I hate everything about Windows.>LOL! I even hate washing em.......
aloha, mike(I hope this is a good cover) ;-)
How did the move go?
I remember your thread from before. I spent some time in Prescott a while back. Thumb Butte in view from your house? Hows the beer at PBC? Sick of hippy college kids yet?
Dustin,
Thanks for asking . . .
The move went great. While I can see Thumb Butte ("hey, that'th thum butte, there! ithn't it?!") from most everywhere, I don't see it from my house.
We have a fabulous panoramic view northeast and north and can see the San Francisco peaks at Flagstaff, 100 miles away, and all the peaks and valleys from here to there (Jerome, Cottonwood, Sedona).
What's PBC? I can vouch for the beer at the Palace Saloon. Great place!
Hippy college kids? You mean the purple hair, mohawks, piercing everywhere, heavy boots and never-ever washed baggy jeans (and those are the girls)? Yeah, they're here. No problem.
Weekend jazz concerts, classical conerts, rock concerts, art exhibits, craft shows, baloon rides, kayaking on the lakes, sailing on the lakes, great weather, hiking, horseback riding, farmer's markets, county fairs, Whiskey Row, polite and really friendly people.
What's not to like?
Rich
PBC= Prescott Brewing Company, it's on the corner across from the park(can't remember the street names) in town.
Great town. Sometimes I wish I would have stayed, but I was into lots of bad habits there.
I used to live on Whetstine. It's right by the Ponderosa(IIRC) shopping center with Sears, and Denny's.
Framed a bunch of houses in Chino Valley.
and Denny's. ..Geeeee. I for one love them.. Sort of met my wife in one..I had my leg out in the isle and she tripped on it! Not on purpose.. hehehehehe
Being close to retirement, I am always listening to what people say about the area they live. We are in Ann Arbor, MI. Last winter just about did it for me. Great summers, though.
What made you move from Maui? I know that the cost of housing is really going up in the South and West. Our area is "depressed" right now. Don't know when we can expect a turnaround.
We visited South Carolina this summer and it was nice. May not be so nice this week with a hurricane bearing down on the area. The one nice thing about Ann Arbor is the abundance of things to do (U of M here) and the traffic is not so bad. Additionally, we don't have the massive acts of nature that are in some areas with a more ideal climate.
Eric,We really didn't want to leave Maui. But certain realities had become too compelling to deny any longer. Traveling to the mainland to see family was extremely expensive, incredibly exhausting and too infrequent. Grandchildren were getting born and suddenly were 1 and 2 and 3 years old without ever knowing one set of grandparents. And the cost of living was becoming obscene.Then I got an opportunity for a job transfer to Prescott. I had never heard of the place. My wife and I flew here and fell in love with it in a heartbeat. It's not as though we had to give up "paradise" of Maui, moving here accomplished getting us back to a geographic location that solved the family contact issue and the lifestyle in Prescott is wonderful.This place is becoming one of the most desireable retirement destinations in the USA and it is growing rapidly. The climate is mild. it's very warm in the summer, but 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix all the time. It has 4 seasons, but winters are not severe and snow is infrequent and very light. The opportunity for exploring is legendary - all of Arizona - including the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tuscon, southern Utah with Bryce Canyon, Zion and the surroundings. Physically, the area is breath-taking. The cost of living is about 1/3 that of Maui. We can't get used to filling our grocery shopping cart for much less than $100. In Maui an equivalent shopping trip would easily cost $250-$275. Things are relative, though. I've met people who have moved here from Texas and the southeast who find this area very expensive compared with their previous experiences.Real estate is starting to explode. We made a decent profit on our Maui home (after 14 years) and bought a house here that would have been several $Million there for just a few $hundred thousand! (But in Maui real estate is obscenely expensive. It's unbelievable for new comers. A run-down, small 3 bedroom house can cost $1 million!) Arizona has caught the real estate fever and prices are inflating at $10,000 per month! It will catch up with California and Hawaii very fast. We were very fortunate to have had the opportunity to move now.We live within the Prescott city limits (our location is still pristine wilderness) which is actually the high-price area. Real estate prices just a mile or 2 further out are much less expensive, for just as much house and land.The area is great for young families. There is a culture of respect and politeness. Self-sufficiency and work ethic are strong. Crime is low. It's a college town and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is located here.There are very few natural disasters to worry about. No hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis. Even forrest fires and grass fires are very low in probability (they do occur, but mostly in southern Arizona).There is always something going on at the town square on weekends (jazz concerts, classical concerts, art exhibits, craft shows, etc). The place is a bonafide part of the history of the Wild West. Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and their counterparts hung out here and the same saloons and other haunts they frequented are active and going strong. Friday and Saturday night on Whiskey Row are never dull.On Maui, a night out for 2 easily cost well over $200 including 2 meals, a few drinks, dessert and tips. Here, we can't believe our eyes when we see the check. The same experience is $35-50. It's certainly possible to spend a lot more, but that's not an inevitable part of going out.Do I sound like a member of the Prescott Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Board? Actually, now that I'm here, I think we should pulll up the draw bridge and keep interlopers out! Log onto one of the many Web sites dedicated to Prescott to learn more.Rich
Edited 9/11/2005 4:10 pm ET by Rich14
Thanks for the excellent picture of the area!
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