Ipe Vanity table

I was approached by an interior designer for an Ipe vanity table for a high-rise condo. This was 8 years ago, and I had never worked with Ipe before. I researched the heck out of the wood and tree and designed this vanity to extend into the shower. Loved working Ipe.. dulled all my blades, but that just made me get better and faster at sharpening… and a new stock of table saw blades. This was before my jointer and planer.. so I did it all with hand planes. Got intimate with the nuances of this wood. The chrome rods are ceiling fan extension rods. I was most happy with the inclusion of the toilet paper holder.

The hardest part was learning how to finish the wood with stain and varnish. I had to add a slight green tint to the legs to match the naturally green-brown top, but the wood’s oil resisted, until I just soaked the oil out with denatured alcohol and then the stain took. Five coats of Marine spar varnish.. though now I know a far better finish for Ipe.

This piece had a sad ending though. Unsure about moisture in a high-rises, I asked over and over to be sure… if the bathrooms was mostly moist of dry. The designer insisted it was moist.. so I designed the construction to move away from the wall and deal with the piping accordingly. HE WAS WRONG… it was so dry the top pulled against the wall and split the vanity in half. Lesson learned.. don’t trust a non-woodowrker for vital information. At least I got paid for it.

-- ~ Eric P Jorgenson: Jorgenson Design