Working with Purpleheart.....

[Mike Langford]

I'm making a purpleheart and maple chessboard for my youngest son...
75593 75594
I'm also going to put a frame of maple, trimmed with purpleheart around the board.

This is my first time working with purpleheart and would like to hear from you guys about what type of finish you'd suggest to keep the wood looking "purple" longer.....also any info on what causes purpleheart to fade.etc. (I can never remember if light is good or bad for it! :o)

This is also my first time posting on the Finishing Forum....so I'm looking forward to hearing from folks who have more finishing experience than me.....all I've ever finished any project with is tung oil...and not true tung oil but the Formby's tung oil which is what they call a "wiping" oil/varnish mix.....

Thanks in advance for any and all recommendations and suggestions....also comments and tips about building a chessboard!

[Jim Tobias]

This has been my experience with purpleheart. Fresh cut or sanded, it is brownish in color. Leave it in sunlight and air afterwards and it will turn bright purple. After finsihing it , keep it out of sunlight and it will keep a lot of its purple color. I have a picture frame that I made 5-6 years ago on a west wall (does not get direct sunlight) and it has remained almost totally purple in color and has not darkened very much.

Jim

[Mike Langford]

Thanks Jim.....What kind of finish would you use/recommend?

[Jim Tobias]

I have only used antique oil finish. I would guess that if you used one of the newer water based , clear polys, you would keep it even lighter and therefore more of a "purple" tone.

Jim

[Mark McCune]

I'm making a purpleheart and maple chessboard for my youngest son...
75593 75594
I'm also going to put a frame of maple, trimmed with purpleheart around the board.

This is my first time working with purpleheart and would like to hear from you guys about what type of finish you'd suggest to keep the wood looking "purple" longer.....also any info on what causes purpleheart to fade.etc. (I can never remember if light is good or bad for it! :o)

This is also my first time posting on the Finishing Forum....so I'm looking forward to hearing from folks who have more finishing experience than me.....all I've ever finished any project with is tung oil...and not true tung oil but the Formby's tung oil which is what they call a "wiping" oil/varnish mix.....

Thanks in advance for any and all recommendations and suggestions....also comments and tips about building a chessboard!


Time and light will fade Purple Heart, it's inevitable! I have used ArmorAll on different exocite woods to help retard fading. Apply the UV inhibitor, let dry, sand lightly then I used a polyurethane finish. I still have good looking Purple Heart on a turned bowl. Mark

[Frank Battista]

I've read in several articles that ArmorAll (or rather the UV inhibitors in it), rubbed into the surface, followed by a lacquer will maintain the purple color for a number of years. I haven't personally tried this as I'm kind of sceotical about how well the lacquer adheres to the ArmorAll surface.

[Al Mock MD]

Hey Mike, I don't have an answer. Rather, I have the same question! I'm building a large through-dovetailed box out of Purpleheart with only a minimum of powered tools. After handplaning foot-long sections of endgrain, the last thing I want to do is screw up the finish. I, however, am not that interested in maintaining the purple color as I am in maintaining a uniform color. So, in addition the the responses to your question, I'll be looking for any purpleheart finishing tips in general. Thanks for a great question and I'm right here with you! al


Thanks in advance for any and all recommendations and suggestions....!

[Larry Edgerton]

I know this is an old post but I ran across this when searching for something else.

I know this will sound crazy but if you want purple, use Padauk.

I made a set of doors with a multi wood carving inside a window and one of the woods was Padauk. I was experimenting with a Sherwin Williams product that was a two part with an acid based catalyst. When I sprayed the carving all was well, but when I came back an hour later the Padauk was a deep purple. None of the other woods were affected, but the Padauk changed color. It was a beautiful color, and so I left it. Those doors are still up years later and the wood is still purple.

I have had little luck keeping purpleheart purple even using epifanes marine varnish with uv protection, so this is an alternative if you need purple.

I do NOT recommend the acid based finishes! It may be all right in a factory setting with a finishing system, but not in a small shop where fumes do excape. It makes your nose burn, makes tools rust, just not good. I poured the rest of a 5 gallon pail on the gravel driveway for dust control, it was that bad. I tried a wash of muriatic acid on Padauk and it did the same thing.

Larry

[Prashun Patel]

Purpleheart mellows with age and air and light. I wouldn't aim for complete prevention. To prolong the life, use a uv-inhibiting finish. I really like Watco Teak oil in this kind of application. It will apply just like your tung oil, but will offer moderate uv inhibition.

The best thing you can do, though, is (gulp) keep your beautiful board in a closet or box or opaque sleeve and away from heat and light.