I built a pair of adirondacks out of Ipe, and I just love the stuff. My
wife really wanted to finish them because the wood came out so nice. I
fought her a little on it, but she won (duh).

I ended up putting a "spar urethane" on it from the Borg, knowing it
wasn't quite as good as real "spar varnish." When I was done, the
chairs looked incredible. Like I could set them on the floor and Smith
and Hawken and get $400 each for them.

Well, the finish has just been falling right off the wood. It started
about a month after application, with some cracking. I'll be heading
out there with a scraper to finish the stripping job that the wood
started on its own. Shouldn't take long at all. I guess I win my fight
with SWMBO after all, but it's taken two years for the finish to
completely give out on us.

I've never seen wood shed a finish like this. It's like snake skin. The
wood itself is doing awesome. I don't see how this stuff could be 10%
of the way to its grave (25-year life). It just isn't aging (other than
color).

Patriarch wrote:
His wife got it into her head she wants a wooden vanity top.
Has anyone done ipe in this, or a similar application?t.

Patriarch