Will purpleheart regain color under finish?

[David B Thornton]

So I've made some cutting boards and have inlayed some purpleheart into the walnut boards. Since I've had to sand everything down,the purpleheart turned brown as expected. My question is, if I put on the General Finishes salad bowl finish while the purpleheart is brown, will it still regain its color once placed in the light/sun? Or should I wait until the PH turns back to purple before applying the finish?

[Keith Gwin]

I made several cutting boards with purple heart and maple and the purple heart never did turn back to a bright purple. I am not sure that it will unless you let it sit for a while before you apply the finish.

[Allan Froehlich]

Are you supposed to put purpleheart in the sun to make it change color again?

[Matt Armstrong]

The color change is not the result of UV exposure so much as it is oxygen, I believe.

[Kent A Bathurst]

David - Thanks much for the question - I have been considering using purpleheart for some accents, and I don't know anything about the wood's characteristics, and I would have (wood have?) been sitting right where you are now. I love learning from other people's issues, rather than only from my own. ;)

To Matt and the other talent out there:

What is the "preferred" method for working pheart to keep it purple? Get it all sanded, and then let it sit around for a while before finishing? What is "a while"? Scrape/plane, don't sand? Any finishes to avoid to maintain color? Any finishes preferred to maintain color?

[Matt Armstrong]

David - Thanks much for the question - I have been considering using purpleheart for some accents, and I don't know anything about the wood's characteristics, and I would have (wood have?) been sitting right where you are now. I love learning from other people's issues, rather than only from my own. ;)

To Matt and the other talent out there:

What is the "preferred" method for working pheart to keep it purple? Get it all sanded, and then let it sit around for a while before finishing? What is "a while"? Scrape/plane, don't sand? Any finishes to avoid to maintain color? Any finishes preferred to maintain color?

My best results were achieved when I did all my rough sanding, then let it sit for 6-8 weeks. any varnish will block the oxidization to some extent, but nothing will permanently keep the wood bright purple. That being said, it may be bright purple for a very long time.

Another thing to point out is that there is a wide variety of purpleheart - I've had some that was pinkish-violet with beautiful curl in it. I thought all purpleheart would look just like it (it was some of the first I'd ever bought) and it was seriously dissapointing to deal with the junky purpleheart I ended up with in my 2nd round. So, not all purpleheart ever really shines, but some does better than others.

[David B Thornton]

Just incase everybody didn't see my thread for the finished cutting boards, here it is:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=128685