Purple Heart Source East TN area?

[Larry Oglu]

Does anyone have a source for Purple Heart around East TN, VA, NC area? I'm going to attempt a workbench similar to Ryan Goetzmann's posted on the wood whisperer site. Yes, I know it is very difficult to work with and I soon will be cursing myself for not going with a more friendly wood :D

[George Makra]

Try Jeffries Fine Lumber 8807 Valgo Road Knoxville TN 37920 865 573 5876

[Osvaldo Cristo]

Does anyone have a source for Purple Heart around East TN, VA, NC area? I'm going to attempt a workbench similar to Ryan Goetzmann's posted on the wood whisperer site. Yes, I know it is very difficult to work with and I soon will be cursing myself for not going with a more friendly wood :D

What a coincidence! This weekend I knew a person with a big workbench made exclusively of purple heart ("roxinho" here in Brazil).

Brazilians usually prefer very hard and denser woods for workbench for either professional or amateur applications. Peroba and even Angelin are broadly used and they are very difficult woods to work with.

The biggest challenge usually is gluing up. At last the hard woods in Brazil usually have been associated with more resinous ones, so it can be difficult to have high quality glue ups. Titebond 3 is the local preference when it is needed... it works most of the times.

All the best,

[Tom Bender]

Purple heart works just fine. It is stable and fine grained. I have had no trouble gluing it. The color fades to a rich dark brown.