Not to answer my own question, but I did some experimenting today and found
that the Ipe routed fairly trouble free. I intentionally went slow and even
tried to burn the wood, but came out burn free. I am considering putting
something between each deck board to prevent tearout. The only question not
answered today is the longevity of the bits. I will hopefully find out more
about that tomorrow.

SteveP.

"Highland Pairos" wrote in message
...
Currently on the job, we are building a curved deck that is being decked
with 5/4 Ipe. We have used Ipe a great deal in the past but never on a
curved deck. We have been kicking around ideas about how to cut the
decking to final length. My current favorite idea is to rough cut it to
length and then rout it to final length with a flush trim bit.

What can I expect routing the endgrain of Ipe? I am thinking that I will
first rout it with a couple of layers of tape on the piece that the
bearing will ride on, then remove the tape and make a final pass removing
only a small amount.

I know that Ipe is tough on cutters. I have approximately 60 ft of
decking to rout. Should I plan on more then one bit? What will the
problems be, (i.e., tearing burning, all of the above)? What combination
of bit speed and router speed should I use?

I plan on doing some experimenting today and we will hopefully be doing
the final work on Friday. Any thoughts would be appreciated as there is
little room for error.

SteveP.