There is a huge variation in the appearance of woods called Ironwood.

I've worked both Hophornbeam and Ipe, and they are, IMO, not as
difficult as some others have implied. They are hard and heavy, but
sharp tools will handle them nicely. Ipe dust gave me the sniffles.


wrote:
Does anyone have experience working with ironwood? I have a client
that
has requested its use in the construction of his bed, and I have no
experience at all with it. Looking around online I found that its
from
Hawaii and very dense, and supposedly hard on tools as a result, but
was hoping for someone who could confirm or deny that from first hand
exerience.

Thanks