Working with purpleheart

[jason lambert]

I am going to make a baby rattle and I brought my wife down to the shop and she picked out some purple hart. I had a couple questions.

Is purpleheart safe to eat? I don't think she will eat it but it will wind up in her mouth.

How do I glue it, should I use titebond 3 or the titebond poly glue. Is it a oily wood.

What color will it be in a couple of years, doesn't purpleheart change color?

[Drew Lavis]

http://www.mimf.com/archives/toxic.htm

That came up on a google search; looks like it might be useful. Among the species listed there, purpleheart seems fairly benign.

Personally I had a really bad experience with purple heart some years back. I was turning a piece and got a tiny bit in my eye. It didn't swell up or anything, but it was rather painful and took two hospital visits to fix. The optometrist said it was something about the oils present in some exotic woods.

I dunno. My gut feel is that I'd be hesitant to give a baby a toy made from an exotic wood. You really don't know what kind of reaction it might cause, and it's not like the baby will appreciate the difference.

[jason lambert]

Funny thing the other wood that was recomended was maple and that has the same rating as purpleheart in that list.

[Clifford Mescher]

If your really worried about Purpleheart, you can always put a coat of shellac on it. Shellac is safe. They coat candy with it. Clifford.

[James Adinaro]

Purpleheart has a reputation for splintering.

OTOH, I incorporated some into my workbench and got only 1 splinter in the process.

[Mauricio Ulloa]

Hey,

If I'm making pens I use regular CA glue. It works great to seal the grain and it also helps when you are turning it.
When I do segmented bowls and I use purple heart, I try to glue it to woods that are similar (hardwoods) and I use Titebond II.

Hope this helps!

[Chris Friesen]

How do I glue it, should I use titebond 3 or the titebond poly glue.

I had no problems gluing purpleheart with yellow glue. (I think it was the Lee Valley stuff though.) Used it to edge some maple ply, didn't treat it specially at all, and it's held up for 3 years so far.

[Brian Kent]

I have glued up a lot of Purpleheart to itself and to maple using Titebond I, II, and III with no problems.

For a child's toy I would polish it really well to reduce the chance of splinters. What I love about little Purpleheart splinters is that if I miss them, the skin around them gets bigger and bigger over the next two days so I can find them more easily.