Larry Jaques wrote in
:

snip
I've seen mahogany vanity tops, and teak, but I think that
might just break whatever budget there is, and may not give the look
they want.

Has anyone done ipe in this, or a similar application? Or another
tropical? Something darkish, and not $15/bf?

Jarrah and purkleheartless jump to mind. Both are dark, with the
jarrah being reddish brown (but FAR from RBS) and the purkleheartless
being, um, purkle.

Hadn't considered jarrah, but that's a pretty good thought. The local
purveyor of hardwoods (aka da pusher) has been stocking it lately, in
various sizes.

At the adult ed, purpleheart shows up way too often in students' early
projects, in ways that offend my taste. That, and it tends to make the
machines complain loudly when a newbie is trying to thickness 3/32" off
of a board, on a small Delta planer, with dull blades. Besides, purple
was school colors for the rival high school, 'back in the day'.


What's the size, and why is $15/bf bad? His instrument-grade woods
are probably double that.


Stanley is the ultimate wood bargain finder. He's got stuff he's been
collecting for decades, several chunks at a time. At this point, late
in life, he's unlikely to want to want to spend big for this much
mahogany. And his health won't let him do fine work any more. Which is
why I help with his projects, and he brings me gifts from his wood stash
as thank yous.

Thank you for the thoughts.

Patriarch