Fuming Purple Heart with Ammonia

[Noah Barfield]

Hi all,

At a recent wood turning class, I asked the instructor if he ever turns purple heart and if so, how does he keep it from going brown. His recommendation was to expose the purple heart to ammonia fumes. Apparently it causes the PH to turn a different color (reddish), but the color is more stable.

Has anyone here tried this? If so, how did you go about doing it? Did you like the way the color turned out? Any pics?

Thanks,

Noah

[Jon Lanier]

The only thing I've ever done with Purple Heart is to apply heat to it to pull out the color.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Noah - I haven't fumed anything yet but have seen some beautiful examples of what it can do to Maple and Oak. If you do try it - use caution - the fumes are intense! Looking forward to seeing the result - if you give it a shot!

[Russell Neyman]

I have fumed oak for many years, and it's not difficult but there are some safety concerns. I'm surprised to hear that it might actually have that effect on Purpleheart, so I will be watching for the results of your project since I am building a large keepsake chest for my Christmas.

The process involved is simply to place the piece (assembled, and sanded, but still bare wood) in an enclosed space (lidded trashcan, for example) with a dish of ammonia placed beside it. The ammonia fumes will react with the tannin in the wood and age it. On oak, the wood becomes darker and grayer. The longer the wood is exposed, the deep color. Understand that the household cleaner-grade ammonia is much lower grade/diluted than what was used during the Arts & Crafts era when fuming oak was standard. It will work, not as quickly or as dramatically as the commercial stuff. BUT ME SURE NOT TO BREATH THE FUMES. Wear a breathing filter, and don't stand directly above liquid.

[Bruce Pratt]

Did a bit of googling on the subject. Others have reported that ammonia fuming of purpleheart yields a green/gray color, while exposure to acids, either fumes or direct exposure yields a redder/cranberry color. Don't know if these colors are any more stable than unmodified purpleheart.
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Bruce

[Noah Barfield]

It does turn the purple heart an interesting metallic green color. I tried it on a scrap block. Not the effect I was looking for. I would up applying a walnut oil / caranauba wax mixture to the project I was working on. I then sealed it with HUT wax. I'll try to get some pictures posted soon. Russell's right--the fumes are pretty nasty.

Noah

[Jim Burr]

Fuming is common in white oak for Arts and Craft style furniture...my BIL and I do it on a weekly basis. It's also very toxic!!!! so make sure you tent and clear the air in proper fashion!
Purple heart is thermo-chemically reactive so it you lack sunlight this time of year, pop it in the oven at about 100 and monitor closely!!!