What the hell is Ipe?

Okay, so a lot has been going on, and I haven't done a very good job of keeping up with everything.

First and foremost, my birthday came and went - and Liz bought a PS3 for me!! She is fantastic.

Second, before my birthday (7/19), I finished cutting out the body of the Jazzmaster. Check it out below...

Third, a good friend, Mr. Michael Florio, said to me when I started using the workshop, "Hey, I have all of these Ipe scraps everywhere - If you want to use it, go for it." So, I investigated the wood a bit.

It is an exotic used for decking, typically, as it has a natural insect resistance. It is also used for outdoor furniture. The wood is not particularly easy to work but is a good wood nonetheless. You can read about it at the following links.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabebuia
http://www.ballurio.com/BG/BGCShopOnFingerboards.shtml

So, guess what? I decided I'd give it a try! It sure beats paying through the nose for a blank of something else, wouldn't you say?

Here it is in it's out-of-focus glory.

I cut it on the old table saw to width, then used the band saw to get it down to thickness and get rid of some surface imperfections. Then came the hard part - planing... I had to plane both sides to get it pretty flat, and my blank measures in at around 19.5".

When I planed the blank, I colored it with a pencil to see where the high/low spots were as I planed. It's tough to see, but there is a picture.

I also cut my maple neck to length today. I need to figure out at what angle I want the neck to taper (how thick I want it at the neck pickup and nut) and then cut it to size. Also, I need to add a truss rod channel before gluing on the fingerboard.

Here are both pieces sitting on some cork...

From a design standpoint, I also did a bit of work today. I didn't have any original ideas for a headstock, and wanted something simple and timeless. I went for a take on the old parallelogram style headstocks on Epis and Gibsons and thinned it out a bit...adding a bit of my own pizazz. Let me know what you think - I am still not sure if the site is letting other post comments. Those of you with my email please let me know if they are not.

Enjoy!