Well I have made some progress on the Boo backed Ipe bow from a previous post. It is 64" long, reflex/deflex and 1-1/4" at the handle and tapers to 1/2" at the tips. The IPE thickness is at 1/2" for now. I checked it with a moisture meter and fell down when it read 0%.
I checked other wood pieces just to see if it was reading and it was ok. Right, Wrong or stupid this is what I am thinking: I wiped it down with a wet rag last night and left it on the porch to soak up some moisture. It read 6% this morning so I brought it back inside. I want to tiller it this weekend while relative humidity is around 55%. Should it be wetted more before then and should I get it closer to finished thickness so moisture will be down in the finished working area? Shine some light on me please.
I don't know for sure, but I don't think IPE takes on water much at all.
The natural oils do not allow it.
I'm not sure if wetting it with a rag will help, I've never tried that. I would think 6% is still pretty low mc for wood like ipe. I usually floortiller a stave and then leave it sitting in 50-55% humidity for a couple of weeks before I finish it. That way I know the mc is around 9-10%.