finish for ipe - Woodworking Talk

crapenterallday · 05-03-2009, 05:16 PM

I'm rebuilding a garden bench with some ipe. I was wondering what would be a good out door finish for it

Gene Howe · 05-03-2009, 06:24 PM

You really don't need any finish for protection. If you want to finish it for looks and to slow the natural change in color, I'd use Man O War Marine varnish.

Julian the woodnut · 05-03-2009, 07:53 PM

A good product to use on ipe is Flood cwf-uv. It's at home depot, and will work better than marine varnish since it's a penetrating oil for dense woods, and won't leave a built up film like varnish.

http://www.flood.com/flood/Products/...oduct+Page.htm

I have used this on my adirondak chairs that I built out of ipe, and they still look as good as the day I built them.

rightendup · 05-09-2009, 11:55 PM

Agree with Julian, - OIL.
You will only be stripping the varnish off later when it starts to peel off.
I've worked with Ipe, it is usually left unfinished but turns whiteish in the sun.
Oil is the way to go. NOT varnish!