Hello all ,
I have a railing job that call for solid ipe 6×6 posts ,I generally use a 4×4 and “wrap” in the wood of choice . I have used (with sucess) soild clear cedar that was dried . Also more commonly available back when . The question is ,is the ipe going to be too hard to mill a miter loc on 5/4 stock ? I don’t own a shaper but do have a 3 1/4 porter cable set up on my Jet table saw combo .
On the off chance that I could locate -(I’m in westchester county ny ) a 6×6 would it end up checking even if all end grain was sealed .
Thank you for any advice ,Chris
Replies
Ipe is just a lot harder than a soft wood like cedar. It will dull your bits more quickly and you'll need to make smaller, incremental cuts.
Chris - assuming that this is an exterior railing skip the miters entirely - time and experience have shown that many miters exposed to weather conditions eventually open up. Use a biscuit joiner and attach boards with butt joints. I've never seen a 6x6 Ipe post and if I did I sure wouldn't want to cut it.
Jeff