Box Elder burl turning strange colors

[Brian Brown]

I got some box elder burl a while back from the landfill. I cut some pen blanks, and they are now dry. I made a couple of pens, and one of them I dyed blue (actually a turquios blue). After a couple of weeks, the blue dyed pen turned grass green. The other pen I left natural, and after 2-3 weeks, the natural BEB color turned a bright lemon yellow color. What gives? Both were finished with CA glue. Any Idea where the yellow color is coming from? As for the blue that turned green, blue and yellow mixed are green, so I think the wood turned yellow under the dye. This is not a normal yellow. it is very lemon colored. Any one else had this happen?

[charlie knighton]

unless you use water based finish, box elder part that is white will turn yellow, a lot of box elder is bleached, after bleaching if you do not use water based finish the white will turn yellow with finish

[David E Keller]

Interesting... I roughed out a bowl blank from a chunk of unknown wood last fall, and when I checked it today, it is also quite yellow. There was some boxelder in the pile I grabbed it from. It only has anchorseal on it at this point. I know it's not mulberry, bois d'arc, or redbud, so maybe it's boxelder.

[Steve Mellott]

I just returned from a woodturning class and the instructor told us you should never finish box elder with c/a glue. He told us the wood would turn either blue or green!

Steve

[Frank Van Atta]

Interesting about the CA glue. I'll have to try that . . .