@@TractorHoarders Ether doesn’t have much lubricity to it. Use too much, and it washes the oil off the cylinder walls, cooks the rings and scores the cylinders. That in turn lowers the compression, and after that they start hard without the added high flammability of the ether.
Ether addiction is myth... people use to explain the effects of misuse of ether, but as he said excessive ether will wash the piston walls, which is why you don't go crazy with it. It's not going to hurt the engine... some detroits even game with built in ether injection systems.