Good Morning All: Iam making a handle for a grill out of some nicely figured ipe. Iam thinking of finishing it with spar varnish, but have heard that some finishes will not work with ipe. Does anyone have any first hand knowledge about this? Dennis
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Ipe is one of the oily hardwoods that may cause oil based varnishes to not cure properly. But, you can get around that with a coat of shellac to seal the oil in, before you varnish. Another approach would be to wipe down the ipe with acetone or lacquer thinner and varnish just after the solvent has fully dried.
You do need to be sure that the varnish won't be expected to cope with high heat from the grill. Over about 150°F. you can't be sure the varnish will "behave".
Ipe doesn't need finish for exterior use, though it will look nice varnished.
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