Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Bearded bowyer on December 07, 2013, 07:32:24 am
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Hi all
Its mt first time working with Ipe......What the heck is going on with the dust?!?!?!?
Here is a pic
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Are you sure you haven't been picking your nose >:D.
Dunno, not used the stuff myself, but some woods do look much different when freshly cut e.g Osage... bright yellow :)
Just don't lick it ;D
Del
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Not unusual, caught me off guard also. Bothers my sinuses very bad.
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Wear a mask and hook up some sort of dust collection. Most things don't bother me but ipe dust is bad news.
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Long sleeves arent a bad plan. The sweat on your arms can make it stick to you, its nasty stuff. But used the right way, its a great bow wood.
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Sometimes it's red dust
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Some pieces are worse than others. Doesn't bother me at all but wearing a mask is a good idea regardless.
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:o :o :o :o :o :o......the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this was the SciFi channel. Or is this guy playing some kind of prank? can you tell I've never used ipe? That is so strange........but cool. In a strange way.
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Mark, I have had yellow, rusty red, moss green. brown. All of it bothers my respiratory.
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A friend put his first piece of Ipe to a belt sander and had such a violent allergic reaction he passed out cold. I have never used the stuff as I tend to react negatively when exposed to some wood sawdusts.
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I may have to quit woodworking at some point. I only use hand tools on osage and still get sneezing fits at night that might last an hour every time I work on it which is almost every day.
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You've all got me a bit worried now........
I use a mask and dust extraction system.....no problems yet, but I am an asthmatic so time will tell.
Most people I know use it as a core lamination so there is less dust than if its the belly and you are continually working it.
I've got three bows to make using it as the belly. I have to admit it, I don't really like it.......I also find it damn hard to rasp/ scrape etc.
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I use mostly a sharp scraper on ipe. If you are confident with the belt sander just take it down till it starts to be bend a tad then go to the scraper.
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The first thing I thought is "is he putting it under a black light?" Some woods glow über it but it sounds like they are many colors. Osage and yew give me coughing fits and yew completely blocks up my sinuses. I work on osage and yew so much, more osage, that I swear I have a few POUNDS circulating in my blood. Time will tell if I die young or if I turn into "osage man" yellow skin,hair,and eyes with yellow liquid wood blood. 8) when I work on yew with just hand tools I have major coughing fits and feel sick for awhile after working on it.
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I think you will find most wood dust is bad for you. Stuff like Tamarac causes eye cancer, Laurel has so much cyanide in it you can kill yourself trimming a hedge of the stuff. Cherry is the same, my workshop is full of green cherry i'm processing at the moment and the smell that hits you when you open the door in the morning is very strong indeed. Yew is another really nasty one. That said I think our immune systems are so under worked these days what with all the antibiotics and disinfectant sprays, a little bit of organic poison every now and again may actually be good for you.
Disclaimer: I in no way indorse or encourage the wanton use wood for medical purposes. Also some wood may be addictive. >:D
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Might have something to do with the oil in the wood.
But man that dust is nasty stuff. Wear a mask
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It's called "Lapacho" dust.
You can buy herbal remedies made with Ipe based stuff and they all work on the principle of toxicity.
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Toxic=poisonous???????? :o
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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.
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Toxic=poisonous???????? :o
Of course. Most medicine is like that.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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I use it for arrows and bows.
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I use it for arrows and bows.
Thanks Badger I've been wondering about arrows. How well do they work?
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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 :^)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. :)
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Dan, i mostly use it for little tiny flight arrows. I might try some for broadhead arrows but it is hard to get the weight down on a normal length arrow.
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I developed an allergy to it over time. Makes me itch and sneeze like crazy now. Limit your exposure!
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Fellas, do yourselves a favor and get a good mask, not the little paper things. I've done alot of woodworking,sawing and working around sawmills and it's started catching up to me. It would also be wise to research your wood choices and know their toxicity. There is plenty of info out there on the web and in books. Nearly all woods will have a certain amount of toxicity. The exotics from south america and africa seem to be worse but we have some pretty nasty stuff in the U.S. as well. I'm thinking about going to a full face fresh air system but they aren't cheap. A good dust collector or at very least a shop vac will help a bunch. Make sure you dust collection system is grounded well so you don't get a spark from the static electricity that builds up. It has been known to cause explosions. Matt