Making an Ipu

When at PIFA in San Diego, there was a booth by: www.ipufarm.com

At the booth, they had for sale: make your own ipu . Basically, they let you pick out an ipu out of a bin of unfinished ipus at different prices. They had already taken out the seeds, so all you had to do was sand the outside and finish it. There are different widths, sizes and thickness of ipus, so it is person preference.
The ipu is a gourd, like the uli uli, so it is pretty rough and needs a good sanding. But where I used sandpaper so sand the uli uli, you use basically a brillo pad and water.
It was an interesting concept to do, and the kids loved it. Also, they do a make your own ipu party, which would be a fun concept. Too bad there are not a lot of dance classes in Chicago, IL for children to use the ipu in.
When it is pretty smooth, then it can be finished with either a polyurethane or kukui nut oil.