I’m building a dressing bench for our walk-in shower. It’s not in the shower proper where it will get ‘rained’ on but just outside for drying, dressing and …. well that kinda stuff. My first thought that being Ipe I’d just leave it unfinished. I’d actually prefer doing this but thought I’d throw it up in the wind here to see what blows back. This stuff is really hard and dense as we all know so I’m thinking no finish would be OK, especially in an interior situation like this. Would there be any concern about having bare cheeks coming in contact with this wood?
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What a great idea, Dennis! Are you mainly concerned about splinters?
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Not really concerned about splinters, Jamie. The raw material is pretty straight grained. On the one project I did a while ago the stuff mills almost like solid surface materials. This batch is a little different from the first; different color - but it's still nice and tight with no evidence of grain runout that would be cause for splinters.Mainly I'm kinda interested in how it will "weather" since it will inevitably get some water spots here and there, damp towels laid on it, dripping wash cloths and so forth. Perhaps just a quick wipe with an oil or something? The bench is 37" wide and goes between two walls. I'll secure stainless steel ledger angles into the wall at each end on which to rest the bench.
What did you mean, then, when you said "Would there be any concern about having bare cheeks coming in contact with this wood? "
Darned stuff is guaranteed against decay and stuff for 25 years. Don't know about water spots. LMK what you find out.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
" ....bare cheeks ... in contact with this wood? "I was wondering if it would be a cure for hemrroids(sp) or not! (grin)
how about mahongany with a teak oil finish should help out with the water spots and not as heavy as ipe
Thomas B. Palumbo
CUSTOM WOODWORKING
I dont think the moisture from towels, etc. is going to bother it one bit. I've got Ipe 4x4's (actually 2 2x4's screwed together) underneath this cathouse holding it up off the ground slightly. http://forums.taunton.com/fw-knots/messages?msg=25694.8
There's no finish on the Ipe and it's sat on concrete through rain and snow for going on 4 yrs now. I tipped it up this summer and looked underneath out of curiousity and there's no sign of rot or punky wood and the color looks pretty much the same as when I build it.
Waddaya mean it wont fit through the door?
I have an Ipe deck that shows no sign of decay although the color has gone grey. In your application I would anticipate no harm to the wood if left unfinished. So you have only an aesthetic choice. Personally, I think a few coats of penetrating oil would look great.
Thanks for the comments. As I mentioned, my primary interest was the possibility of getting spots from water, wet towels or whatever gets thrown on this bench in the process of .... using it. Given that I built a frame for an exterior door to our fireplace wood bin out of the stuff with no finish on it, either - and it's held its color quite nicely, I suspect no finish is the best finish. Or per the one suggestion a light oil to bring out the color.'Nuf said on this topic then - thanks everyone.
If it is exposed to enough light (outside) it will turn grey. Inside it will keep its colour, only softening a little. The moisture will not change the colour. I would apply a couple coats of oil (something that will not irritate the skin) and that will be fine for a year or two.
Mike
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