Ipe Dust.......What the !!!!!!!!!

[Bryce]

Might have something to do with the oil in the wood.
But man that dust is nasty stuff. Wear a mask

[PatM]

It's called "Lapacho" dust.
 You can buy herbal remedies made with Ipe based stuff and they all work on the principle of toxicity.

[Bearded bowyer]

Toxic=poisonous??

[toomanyknots]

Sometimes it's red dust

Yup. And sometimes yellowish, sometimes greenish. When I wash my hands afterwards, sometimes it stain the sink pink.  I saved a bunch of ipe shavings and raspings, thinking I will try to boil em and make a stain, see how that works.

[PatM]

Toxic=poisonous??

Of course. Most medicine is like that.
 

[toomanyknots]

It's called "Lapacho" dust.
 You can buy herbal remedies made with Ipe based stuff and they all work on the principle of toxicity.

Now that just sounds nasty. I think it smells like unripe bitter almonds when it is cut. I must be lucky, I don't have too much problems with the dust. I don't like really any wood dust though. Horn dust sucks too. It's crazy though, my hands and everything will look completely clean, but then when I wash them off, there can be loads of pink ipe that come off in the water.

[PatM]

That's because the Ipe reacts with ammonia in sweat.
Toxicity

Active components in lapacho bark called naphthaquinones have anti-cancer properties, but this is because the chemicals are toxic, according to the University of California at San Diego Moores Cancer Center. The poisonous chemicals kill cancer cells in the laboratory, but the amount of lapacho a human has to take for the same effect is too toxic. Taking large doses may cause liver and kidney damage.

[Dan K]

Ipe makes a great bow and a lot of people use it. I just finished a bamboo back Ipe and it's one of the best bows I've ever shot. There are different kinds of Ipe and everybody is affected differently. Don't take the chance wear a mask, long sleeves and wash your hands thoroughly before touching your eyes. Be careful when you're testing the smoothness of the wood. I took a splinter and it festered like I was bitten by a nasty spider. Not to scare you from using it by no means. Always remember if you manage risk, there is no risk. Trust me you'll love the end results.

[Badger]

  I use it for arrows and bows.

[Dan K]

  I use it for arrows and bows.

Thanks Badger I've been wondering about arrows. How well do they work?

[Dances with squirrels]

Immune systems nowadays are overworked, not underworked. Antibiotics themselves suppress our immune systems by killing the good bacteria in our g.I. tract and irritating/inflaming it... then there's the other meds,  insecticides, herbicides, artificial colors, preservatives, and other chemicals in our food, various forms of stress, poor nutrition, unrealized food allergies, and more.... taxing our immune systems like never before. Wood dust ain't no good for us either :^)

[kiltedcelt]

I'll add one more thing about ipe dust. It carries an odd electrical charge. I forget exactly what the deal is, but suffice it to stay that ipe dust is very attractant to every surface in your work area. I found the damn stuff stuck to everything. Took forever to clean it up. On top of that, I am also one of the folks who is allergic to it. I don't know that it does much to my respiration, but getting it on my bare skin makes me break out in a nasty red rash. I had a couple pieces that I was going to try to plane down for bow blanks, but finally threw in the towel. It's hard on tools, nasty to work with, and in my opinion simply not worth the marginal increase in performance you might get over other woods like osage or hornbeam.

[toomanyknots]

The dust I hate more than life is ERC dust! I hate cutting it in my basement, because it is so fine and takes about a week to air out. I do have asthma, and that stuff is the worst wood dust for me. Maybe I have an allergy or something though. I love the way it smells, but breathing the stuff in for me is killer. The stuff I got must be over dried or something, because it's like it just disintegrates into dust when it is cut.

[nathan elliot]

Immune systems nowadays are overworked, not underworked. Antibiotics themselves suppress our immune systems by killing the good bacteria in our g.I. tract and irritating/inflaming it... then there's the other meds,  insecticides, herbicides, artificial colors, preservatives, and other chemicals in our food, various forms of stress, poor nutrition, unrealized food allergies, and more.... taxing our immune systems like never before. Wood dust ain't no good for us either :^)

Tell that to the kids with asthma and eczema.

[mikekeswick]

Our immune systems are stressed in the wrong ways.
People spraying all sorts of chemicals on work surfaces, tables etc that we eat off, washing up liquids used to 'clean' dishes - try tasting a wee smidge of washing up liquid.......not too pleasant is it!
Too many chemicals and not enough natural 'dirt'.

Ipe dust makes my nose tingle and stains my hands pink/red. I'm not too keen on it anymore, sure it makes great bows but.....
The old saying 'anything in moderation' goes for just about everything....a bit of dust now and then? Probably not going to be too much of an issue for most people but prolonged exposure....not good for anyone.
Ipe makes a nice tea too. Especially pink ipe blossom.