Hi there!! How do you keep Purpleheart purple?

[Dan Mages]

Hello everyone!! I'm a newbie around here and to woodworking. Carpenty and woodworking runs in the family, so i decided to give it a shot.

Now to the question at hand. My kid sister just bought her first home and wants me to make new cabinet doors out of purpleheart. (Gulp!! I've never done doors before....) I know that this wood will eventually turn brown. Is there a way to keep purpleheart purple?

Thanks!!

Dan :cool:

[Chris Padilla]

Hi Dan,

Welcome to SMC! :) Wealth of information here.

In my limited experience with purpleheart, it is tough to keep it purple unless you dye it first. The problem with that is you are dying it a color it already is...how can you tell it is correct and how will it look as it ages?

You are *almost* better off dying another wood (maple, for example) the color you want. Mahogony might have a better grain match than maple...dunno if it would be any easier/harder than dying a whiter wood like maple.

Or, let the purpleheart brown over first, and then dye it. Stick it out in the sun for a bit...it'll happen but you'll need patience. In the mean time, you can ask questions here and buy yourself some poplar to practice making doors! Perhaps by then the purpleheart will be brown and you can experiment with coloring it back to its fresh-cut look.

All this takes patience and lots of experimentation on scraps of wood. Pick some up and go for it.

[Tom Sontag]

I made a door panel from purpleheart almost a year ago and it is still purple. It is in a windowless room and gets absolutely no UV light on it - I thought that UV was what made it brown.

Correct me if I am wrong, but a UV inhibitor finish and keeping it out out sunlight has worked for me so far...

[Dennis McDonaugh]

UV is what turns it brown. I think it'd be hard to keep it purple on a kitchen cabinet. I think I'd go with a dyed wood if I wanted the dark purple color.

[Donnie Raines]

I have seen this question posed a number of times on diffrent forums. The replies are always mixed....much like they will be here. Becuase, I to, have made a few items from PH(that are exposed to UV light a good chunk of the day) and they have always remained purple. I use lacquer....and thats it. I think it has more to do with the lumber it's self....not the finish and or UV exposer. I would not make this comment if I did not have first hand experience with this....and at the same time I have no "logical/fancy" ryhm or reason why. I have seen many PH boards that had a brown look to it prior to any milling or finsihing. I have always picked the boards that were..well...purple.


DonnieR

[David Brown]

which is basically SAND and will easily DULL your cutters!

[Dan Mages]

If it UV that damages the wood, would a coating of UV protectant, like car wax, help keep it purple??

It does sound like making it from maple and staining it purple may be a better solution for this case. My sister does not care about the grain, she just wants it purple!

Dan

[Brian Bischoff]

Dan,

Several years ago, my daughter wanted a desk (made from melamine) trimmed in purpleheart. Purple is her favorite color and she would not want it to turn brown. I did a little experiment (I am a chemist by day). I cut several small pieces of purpleheart. Fresh cut purpleheart is very purple. I coated the pieces with danish oil, water-based poly, and Minwax oil-based poly. the danish oil and WB poly immediately turned the wood a brown shade. The oil-based poly kept the deep purple color. After 4 years, her desk still has purple trim. You might want to try your own experiment.

Good luck,

Brian

[Dale Thompson]

Dan,
I've got a "kid" sister too and I love her dearly. However, not so "dearly" as to make CABINET doors for her out of PH!

As "exotics" go, PH is cheap. There are reasons; It dulls your "best" carbide tools very quickly. :mad: :mad: It "burns" for no apparent reason. :confused: :( And, even worse, it chips out when it even SEES a cutting tool coming. :mad: :mad:

If your sisters only requirement is purple, I would get some maple which, in MY worthless opinion, has a similar boring grain and take it to a Sherwin-Williams Store or some other professional place and have them mix up a purple dye for you. If they don't know the shade of purple required, give them a sample or go to another store.

As I've said in other posts, places where PH is plentiful use it for stair treads. Personally, I think that even THAT is a "stretch". :) :)
I've also read where there are some 200 species of "Purpleheart". Some folks get lucky - others don't. As is the case with EVERTHING I do, I am a lousy gambler. 1:200 odds, to me, would be like 1:200 billion.

I use it for pens, yo-yos, pendants and lamp pulls - PERIOD! I'm not a PH fan - surprise, surprise!! :) ;)

Dale T.

[Tim Sproul]

Dan,

I've also read where there are some 200 species of "Purpleheart". Some folks get lucky - others don't. As is the case with EVERTHING I do, I am a lousy gambler. 1:200 odds, to me, would be like 1:200 billion.

Dale T.

That, I believe.

The purpleheart I've worked is difficult to machine....I think that is quite a common characteristic of all the different "purpleheart" species.

The stuff I've worked is brown when freshly cut and then turns purple over the coarse of several days. The color change from brown to purple requires air exposure as the places covered by a sticker were much slower to turn purple. I don't think light had much to do with it as the difference in color change was apparent overnight.