Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

Re: Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

Fred in NC

>I never tried the torch.

take a scrap piece, sand it, and put it ouside under unlight and see what happens....

Fred

Re: Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

Wally Dickerman at Green Valley, Az.

>Jennifer, I've never heard of heating purple heart to help hold it's color. Very interesting, if true. Purple heart comes from various Central and South American countries. Where it comes from has a lot to do with how well it retains it's color. A number of years ago I made a vessel from purple heart that came from Panama. I finished it with Deft, and today it's still a brilliant purple. Trouble is, your dealer seldom knows where it came from. Only the importer will know.

Wally

Re: Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

Mike Swain

>Hi Jenifer,

Being part of a self help group of artists in the Derbyshire Peak District I am often called on to turn parts for the furniture makers within the group.

One recent job was to make a series of grape shaped beads that each reduced in size by .2mm naturally in Purple Heart. These were for a chair commissioned by a wine merchant and they were loosely to allow them to spin on individual stainless steel rods that seperated the two wide maple back uprights.

Imagine how I felt when after turning all the beads came out a horrible brown colour, I phoned the chair maker who laughed, told me to put them in sunlight which I did and they all duly turned back to the beautiful purple of the original blocks.

Regards....Mike

Re: Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

Jay Sullivan in So. AZ

>I have heard that WD-40 keeps the purple in PH. As an aside, I have also heard that muratic acid turns PH a nice cranberry color. I have not tried either.

Jay

Re: Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

John Lucas

>I have some fairly old purple heart that still has most of it's color. Steven Russell was working on an article on preserving the color in wood that has a tendency to change. We haven't heard from him in a while. Hope all is well with him and the article.

Don Russell in Atlanta swears by McClosky's Spray on Spar varnish. He says it won't stop the changes but slows them down better than anything else. He sprays it on and then rubs it off before it has time to dry. That way it looks more like an oil finish rather than that thick plastic look. I forget the exact procedure but I think he does this 3 or 4 times. If anyone has attended one of his classes and can remember the formula let us know.

Re: Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

EagleS.C.

>Interesting about the heat.

I thoiught it was the heat from sanding that turned it brown!

I hung a brown turned blank(unfinished) for and hour and it was purple again!

Re: Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

Bill Turpin in WNC mountains

>I asked this same question several months ago, both here and at SawMillCreek. The recipes conflicted with each other. Heat and light both make it purple....both make it brown. The best thing I came up with is to use TransFast purple dye to keep it purple. I have turned several PH Freedom Pens using this dye. It is water-based translucent dye , not fine ground particles. I made a FP for my pastor (a wounded Viet Nam vet, who did not get his PH medal) in March, it is still purple. Use of dye has enabled immediate shipment of pens without worrying where it was in it's purple cycle. I think the difference in recipes is caused by the fact the wood is from many species and different harvesting and processing methods.

Bill Turpin in WNC mountains

Re: Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

Phil Axtell

>Hey Fred,

I seem to be all out of "unlight". Is that the same as darkness. We have another hurricane (Jeanne) headed our way, maybe that will do?

Phil Axtell

Space Coast Woodturners

Central Florida Woodturners

Orange County (CA) Woodturners

Re: Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

Don Orr

>I have heard of or seen several methods that the users swear by. First is the sunlight ( or unlight for us non-typists) method. PH will turn back to purple after being in the sun for a while. I've been told you need to remember to rotate the piece so all sides are exposed evenly.

Secondly, I had a long talk with a guy who did a beautiful segmented vase of PH and he says he just put it in the dark, humid basement and the purple came back nicely.

The last method I have seen done is fuming with muriatic acid. The piece I saw resulting from this technic was a deep, rich purple. I don't know how long it lasts though.

Good Luck and let us see what you get. Glad to see you posting again.

Re: Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

Scott Thorburn

>Jennifer, I have in the past made PH needle cases. I noticed that when I wire burned or heated the wood up to much by fine sanding that a deep puprle color came out. After that I tried to put a couple in the oven after they were done. They came out very even and very dark purple.

Try it out with a small piece. I think I baked it for about1/2 hour at 350 ( I think).

Good luck.

Sun and no sun

Dave MacLuskie

>Wait.. did I read the right?

option 1: Put in light (UV)

option 2: Hide from light (no UV)

Hrm. Sounds like I'm still confused :)

Re: Sun and no sun

Don Orr

>Yeah, I know. It confused me also. Seems totally conflicting but they both swore by their techniques. I like the sound of the baking in the oven idea below.

Re: Sure Fire Way to keep PH Purple?

Paul Norton

>Heat and acid test results at this site:

http://www.organicsculpture.com/Purpleheart.html