Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

Tom Mullane

>The heat from turning and sanding will make purpleheart turn brown... usually a couple of hours in the bright lights of the shop will turn it purple again... however it is sensitive to UV and will eventually start to brown.. this is just the nature of the wood...

However, if you use muriatic acid to fume the wood or wife it down after sanding, it will turn kind of a purple cranberry color that is colorfast...

If you don't like working with acid (I don't).. then I have heard the vinegar also works, but not as well...

On a lot of pens that I want the color to stay.. I just give it a wiping with some Chestnut dye I mix to the color I want.. let it dry and then finish... have not had a piece come back brown yet with that technique... however, experiment with the color on some scrap until you get what you want..

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

Russ Fairfield

>A wipe or dip in Muriatic Acid will give it a cranberry color that is reasonably colorfast. Muriatic Acid is dilute Hydrochloric Acid, so use it with caution and adequate ventilation. It is available from swimming pool shops and in the paint department at Home depot.

Some folks claim that Citric acid will do the same thing. I tried that, in the form of Vinegar, and it did nothing at all to the wood except make it wet.

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

Jeremy in LA

>Hey that's a good idea Tom! I've done the Chestnut thing to "save" Paduak from a similar fate, and to my knowledge (I sold them away), these pieces are still a nice orangey-red. I'm going to try mixing some up and see what I get for colors :) I've seen the acid thing in one magazine, relating to shipbuilding. I didn't know that it made that color stick around longer as a result though. Thanks!

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

joaz hill

>This may sound wierd......a freind of mine claims sun block works well. I have not tried it but....could be.

ArmorAll

Bob Hackett

>It contains UV inhibitors.Make sure it`s compatable with the finish you plan too use first.

MB

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

Wally Lloyd

>Citric acid is from Citric fruit e.t.c.

Vinegar is Acetic Acid, a vast difference!!!!!!!

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

Russ Fairfield

>The claim has always been that any acid will work. Not true. Tried concentrated lemon juice after someone suggested using it. That didn't work for me either.

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

Jim King-Iquitos,Peru

>As a producer of purple heart for 20 plus years I can tell you that it is one of the most over rated woods in the world. If you want to make a dock, park bench or other utility project where long life is important it is a good choice. If you want to make a bowl that is a beautiful purple for a year and then turns black have at it. Purple heart is when freshly cut a brownish cream color and within hours oxidises to purple and later over years goes darker and darker. You can use all the treatments you want and end up with an almost black UGLY wood. If you want a cranberry colored wood as suggested by many with chemical treatments why don�t you buy a cranberry colored wood ?

Sorry to be scrooge but I have been a producer of purpleheart for over 20 years and have no idea why people buy it when there are so many beautiful tropical woods available including others that stay purple for years. The tropical wood industry is in about the same position as �modern � medicine, we don�t know much. Can you imagine what people will think of this group on earth today in regards to most things 500 years from now? What do we think of the people from 500 years ago ? With that you are now in the tropical wood business. We are advancing and due to the internet in the last few years information about almost everything including tropical woods has become available, please use it.

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

nelson brooks

>What cranberry colored wood do you recomend? TIA

Not to be disagreeable but...

Bob Hackett

>It wasn`t too long ago that burls were being burned right along with the rest of the slash from tree harvesting operations.

I`m sure I`m not the only one who finds highly figured(and highly valued)woods such as cherry,oak and maple in firewood piles.

Till I came along the offcuts from veneer logs of flame birch,birdseye and curly maple and olive ash were being sold as cordwood at the local log yards.

One man`s trash has always been another man`s treasure.One need only look at wood pallets to see this is true.

Mainely,Bob-Who has a plank of curly purpleheart that has no finish on it and is at least 20 years old(my father originally bought it)and it`s still more purple than brown.

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

Jim King-Iquitos,Peru

>Nelson: I guess for cranberry colored wood the best choice for you up there would be bloodwood. It comes in a variety of colors from almost pink thru cranberry to dark red. The other nice highly grained cranberry colored wood available is Ruby Swirl.

Re: (not so) Purpleheart..

Andy in Raleigh

>If it is kept in the light, it will not stay purple. I have mixed feelings about using it in intarsia projects, which I have done. It will always be dark and distinct from the wood around it, but I know if I use it to portray grapes, someday they will be raisins...

The board (yep, just one cause I use it so sparingly) in my wood pile keeps it color pretty well because it isn't in the light.

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

Jeremy in LA

>Okay so it looks like I'm not alone? :) Looks like by not knowing whether it turns brown or purple, I'm representing years and years of experience! Why is there this confusion about this wood? Thanks everyone for posting.

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

Russ Fairfield

>Preserving wood color is a futile effort. All wood turns towards brown with age. Some just gets darker faster than others. Regardless of what we do to stop this natural aging process, it is only a temporary delay. In the short-term it will appear that we have done something to stop the color change, but time always wins.

Re: Purpleheart.. how to keep it purple?

Jim King-Iquitos,Peru

>Everything ages and changes that was was once alive incuding us. I think you made the best explanation.