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Ipe and cumaru

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rkeltner:
i was reading apout ipe in the latest issue of PA, and decided to sniff out the local wood supplier. no ipe but they do carry cumaru decking. the characteristics seem to be very similar so i was wondering how cumaru would behave if used to make a bow, using the same standards as ipe??? ???

1/2primitive:
How heavy is it? I would post this on the 'bows' forum, more traffic there.
      Sean

Coo-wah-chobee:
                          Cumaru is Dipteryx odorata and in famliy Fabaceae. Ipe is Tabebuia spp. and in family Bignoniaceae,. Different familys. Cumaru is often sold by"reputable" wood dealers as Ipe but its not. You would have ta try it out and see what u get. I had a small piece of cumaru once and it seemed fairly heavy. You really need ta look at the grain and see how tight it is. Good ipe has VERY tight grain and is very heavy s.g. wise and can range in color, but the best is very dark brown almost black and has no swirls er waves in grain also. Good Luck.......bob

rkeltner:
well, i've found some ipe locally, and made a purchase. i guess that means that i'm probably not going to try the cumaru any time soon. i have decided to bite the bullet, and buy a shipment of 25 'slats' of 1.75"x 6' bamboo, though.

Marc St Louis:
I was given a piece of Cumaru a couple years ago. Tried making a Bamboo backed R/D bow with it but it broke in tension when I tried to reflex the limbs in glue up

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