Padauk and bloodwood over time...how do they change color?

[Chris Yarish]

I really like the look of Padauk and bloodwood. I have not done any work with either of them, but judging the feel of bloodwood, it looks considerably tougher to work than padauk.

I am curious about the color of these woods change over time. I realize that the finish I choose would lead to different results. For my intentions, I am likely building an occasional or coffee table with said woods and finishing them with poly....not likely to use waterborne poly though.

[Jeff Heil]

Paduk will darken to a rich brown over time and exposure to UV light. When freshly milled it is a bright orange.

[Chris Yarish]

Hmmm....not so down with the brown.
How about bloodwood?

Buibinga has some good color as well....how does it age?

[John Newell]

Paduk will darken to a rich brown over time and exposure to UV light. When freshly milled it is a bright orange.

How effective at slowing down that color change is finishing with something with good UV-block properties like a waterborne acrylic poly?

[George Bregar]

How effective at slowing down that color change is finishing with something with good UV-block properties like a waterborne acrylic poly? Slowing down is not the answer...eventually it will darken.

[John Terefenko]

Bloodwood will stay red and will not brown.

[Gary Keedwell]

I have worked bloodwood....sharp tools...no problem.

Gary

[Steve knight]

bloodwood is stable. padouk as others have said is not. not sure if it is light that changes padouk or just age.
I wish bloodwood was not twice the price of padouk. both make super fine very hard to capture dust. though padouk dust stains everything it touches.

[Don Orr]

An older common name for Paduak is "Vermillion", which is the color it will turn to over time. Not familiar with bloodwood.

[George Bregar]

Bloodwood will stay red and will not brown. Bloodwood will darken and brown somewhat with age.

[Brodie Brickey]

Bloodwood stays very red. That said, it is also part of the rosewood family (i think). a number of people have or develop allergies to its dust. Bloodwood dust also gets into the pores of the woods it surrounds staining them.

I made a mug for my cousin in Bloodwood & Yellowheart. I had to seal the Yellowheart between sanding to keep the staining out. If it hadn't been circular I think I would have used a cabinet scraper to clean it up instead.

[Raul Hernandez]

From my experience (which isn't a TON with either, but I've worked both):

-They will both brown/darken with age, but Bloodwood does so more slowly and much less dramatically.

-It seems to be the browning is due to both UV exposure and oxidation from exposure to air, but the UV exposure is overwhelmingly the dominant force. I've seen S2S padauk boards that were stored indoors for a couple years that were still pretty darn close to freshly-cut color. I've also seen that padauk exposed to direct sunlight will lose most all of the red color within a couple weeks.

-Bloodwood seems to be harder on blades.

-Padauk seems to be more stable (with respect to seasonal movement), but they're both better than average.

-Padauk saw/sand dust is much more irritating in the sense that it is hard to eradicate all the fine orange dust that gets everywhere.

[John Terefenko]

I have never seen true bloodwood turn brown. It may turn a deeper red but not brown and I have used it for many years. I am not talking about Satine which is sometimes called bloodwood. To me that is in the mahagony family. They sell that in turners catalogs as bloodwood but not for me. Just an opinion.

[Dennis Montgomery]

Like John said, bloodwood will turn a deeper and somewhat darker red. I've never seen it turn brown. I love the sweet smell when cutting it. I have problems with tear out when planing so I use my drum sander when pieces contain bloodwood.

[FRITZ STOOP]

Bloodwood is among my favorites, although my experience is that it is so hard as to be brittle. I have used it successfully in cabinetry and its beautiful rich red slowly deepens like a fine red wine. It is also very consistent in color, board to board for beautiful uniformness if that's what you're after. It shows little grain.
Paduk, as mentioned above oxidizes significantly, usually to browns. It is very compelling when first opened, shows lots of variation, and in that respect very unlike bloodwood. I find it machines and responds to tooling better than BW.
My 2 ¢

[Gary Herrmann]

Made a bloodwood and yellowheart box for my wife a year ago. Neither has changed in color so far.

That said, dovetails in bloodwood can be a pain.