Ipe wood

[gketcham]

I just heard about Ipe wood. does anyone have experience working with this or know anything about how it performs. I tried to flex a 3 foot board of it and i couldn't make it bend at all. Its also very heavy. Any thoughts on how this would differ from other hard stiff heavy woods.

[SHIF]

I suggest buying a new 24 tooth rip blade for your saw if you plan to use this stuff.

I use a similar hardwood as sidewalls on my bamboo cores. I use Masaranduba, and if it was not available I’d use Ipe. Once I added three layers of it in a poplar/masa core sandwich. That ski was heavier and stiffer than others having similar measurements.

My sidewalls are about 10mm wide in the finished ski. Unlike plastic materials, this tight-grained wood adds to the core structurally speaking and it bonds very well using wood glue. Perhaps having a high-flex index (stiff) material directly over the edges adds to the skis carving ability, like Volkl’s “Extended Double Grip” technology.


-S

[skidesmond]

I've seen IPE sold as decking. It's extremely hard, stable, rot resistant wood w/ little to no movement which makes it perfect for decks or outdoor furniture. I think it would make for great sidewalls. Thanks for the suggestion!

[gketcham]

I would imagine the Ipe would create excellent torsional rigidity, but would add a lot of weight. So I guess if you want a ski that is a lot stiffer this may do about the same as adding metal.

[mattman]

I have been looking at Ipe as well. While it is heavy for wood its not much different from UHMW or Urethane (between the two). It seems to be harder than both and is significantly stiffer. A cheaper alternative is cumaru which has almost the same properties, just doesnt weather as pretty as ipe (it turns grayish, ipe turns silvery).

SHIF: why do you choose Masaranuba over Ipe? Do your cores run thinner to compensate for the stiff sidewalls? Do you find it to be as hard/durable as plastics?

[SHIF]

...SHIF: why do you choose Masaranuba over Ipe? Do your cores run thinner to compensate for the stiff sidewalls? Do you find it to be as hard/durable as plastics?

I found a good local source for Masaranduba. I like the reddish color too. Plus I find it has tighter and straighter grain than the Ipe wood found in my local yards.

So far the Masaranduba holds up just as well as UHMW. And it stays bonded whereas the plastic sidewalls tend to eventually delam above the edges.

I don't compensate for the stiffness of the wood by planning my cores thinner. I don't think it has than much of an effect since the finished ski has only 10mm wide side walls (when viewing from above). I also bevel the top edges on my skis using a 22.5 degree router bit, leaving about 6mm of true vertical wall above the steel edges. This removes plenty of sidewall weight in the thicker portions of the ski.

I have learned empirically how to adjust the ski flex by varying the amount and placement of unidirectional carbon fiber during the lay-up. I like adding carbon both above and below the core, in addition to the usual triaxial glass. I use three inch wide strips of the carbon, but in various fabric weights as desired.

-S