No more purpleheart for me

[dennis thompson]

I'm making a model of a 1909 Stanley Steamer. The pictures of it looked like it was purple so I ordered a few small ,expensive, pieces of purpleheart . The problem is that if you sand it , it is no longer purple. If you cut it, the interior pieces are not purple. No more purpleheart for me:)

[Rege Sullivan]

After cutting/sanding it turns grayish or light brown. Some say put it out in the sun for a while but I have found the rich purple color returns in a few days setting in my basement windowless shop. I don't know if a finish slowes, speeds or stops the process... I can never seem to get a coat of anything on that fast??? Eventually it turn a light tan/brown color just as cherry turns dark over time.

[Bruce Volden]

I wonder if mulberries would bring it back to purple??
Sure works well on my sheets on the clothesline.

Bruce

[glenn bradley]

Like padauk and so many others, the only way to keep a certain stage of the color 'change over time' is to dye the material that color. Depending on exposure to UV you could see something like this:

460561

[Tom Trees]

Isn't there like at least four species of purpleheart?
Some turns brown after uv exposure, whilst others turn a rich purple.
Sounds like you have the right type, if the non cut stuff is purple.
Cosman I think has a video on it, as he handles a fair bit of purpleheart.

Tom

[Rob Sack]

The purple color should return. After all, the boards started out as a whole tree before being milled. However, I have found that conventional lacquer and conversion varnish seemed work the best at preserving the purple color. Waterborne finishes don't work very well unless a vinyl sealer is first applied. Oil finishes will eventually turn the finished piece brown.

[Bruce Mack]

I'm making a model of a 1909 Stanley Steamer. The pictures of it looked like it was purple so I ordered a few small ,expensive, pieces of purpleheart . The problem is that if you sand it , it is no longer purple. If you cut it, the interior pieces are not purple. No more purpleheart for me:)

A heat gun at medium to high setting, moved across the purpleheart to avoid scorching, works very well.

[Stewart Lang]

I'm making a model of a 1909 Stanley Steamer. The pictures of it looked like it was purple so I ordered a few small ,expensive, pieces of purpleheart . The problem is that if you sand it , it is no longer purple. If you cut it, the interior pieces are not purple. No more purpleheart for me:)

Purpleheart is dull to begin with. It gains color with UV exposure. Even just sitting indoors under light. Be patient the color will return shortly.

[John K Jordan]

Dennis,

This article might be useful: https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/preventing-color-changes-in-exotic-woods/

As others mentioned, most purpleheart will be brown when cut but slowly return to purple with exposure to light and perhaps oxygen. I did a test once with a small board in a dim part of my garage - after some months I picked it off the shelf and the top was purple and the bottom was still brown.

Coating with a good finish after it turns purple again may prolong the purple life which will eventually get darker. I read once that in 100 year all wood will be black. Not quite true but not far off.

HOWEVER, I once acquired some purpleheart that was purple before I cut it and was still purple inside. Years later things turned from it are still purple. I got it from a fellow whose dad had it in the shop for years. The son thought it was from Mexico. I still have some but sure wish I had a bunch more.

A "magic" wand from some of that:
460614

The late Jim King, a wood dealer from Peru, once told me he couldn't understand the US fascination with purple heart. Where he was in Peru it was used as construction lumber for posts, floor joists, studs, etc.

JKJ

[Bruce Mack]

Handsome turning, John.

[John K Jordan]

Handsome turning, John.

Thank you! I've made a number of things from that purpleheart. The wand was a gift for a friend who specifically asked for that wood.

Now it they had asked for padauk I might have resisted! (That's the worst in my experience for losing color, right up there with the red in box elder.)

JKJ

[Warren Lake]

memory says padouk is from two places and i read one darkens a bit more than the other

Start orange and brilliant, then red, then burgandy then brown and not as nice brown as say walnut.