purple heart wood

[david l hull]

I have built a number of shaker benches,piano bench,step tables etc. I consider myself an amatuer. But my results have been great. I have a problem. I inlayed a beautiful 3x20 1/2 inch peice of Purpleheart wood into an Aspen board for a tabletop project. After hours of mostly hand sanding and an initial coat of Minwax polycrilic finish, I did not realize until the following morniing that the great purple color was turning brown. I am considering power sanding the finish off and hoping I can find some way of restoring that great purple color. Is it posible by heat- by sun- by chemical means? Will sanding bring me down to putple again? David.

[Don]

Hey, Dave and welcome to the forum. I don't have a lot of experience with purpleheart. I found this on a quick net search and it kind of sounds like what you are experiencing.

Finishing:
Some finishing materials will dull the purple colour of the wood, but generally it is very easy to finish. Using a coat of Armorall under your lacquer has been found to help in retaining its beautiful purple colour. It waxes to a wonderful sheen.

There's more on this website, http://www.thewoodbox.com/data/wood/purpleheartinfo.htm

Good luck and let us know what you learn.

dawjr

[woodman43]

Welcome to the site David!
Sorry, I don't know anything about purpleheart.

[old_guy]

While I don't have any personal experience with it, I'm told by those that have that over time it will begin to turn from purple to brown when exposed to UV -- so it is advisable to use a finish that has some UV protection in it.

[bogydave]

Welcome David
How did the Purple heart problem turn out?
Hope you got a good solution to share.

[Turn Two]

David,

I have worked with Purpleheart many times...
http://www.turn2art.com/Dtype_Purpleheart.jpg

It will (more times than not) turn brown when wetted. I have found that using a 'very high solids filler' FIRST, maintains the Purple color. I have used Benjamin Moore 238 05 Wood Grain Filler for years with excellent results. I use it on all woods, not just Purpleheart.

After finish sanding my project, I paint the filler on in all directions with a stiff bristle brush. (with and cross-grain)... Leave a very heavy coating. It will tack in a few hours. Overnight is best. Then I remove the filler with burlap... while wearing nitrile gloves. The stuff is very messy and sticky. I get burlap from a fabric store in bulk. Usually 2 or 3 yards (54" wide) at a time. Use tan or bleached burlap (NO color). I cut it into one foot squares. The burlap will clog and load up quickly so keep using a new area and throw the used stuff away. Once all the obvious extra filler is removed go over the surface again with clean burlap. You will be amazed at the finish. I have done this procedure on a turning still mounted in the lathe chuck. Once I manually remove the bulk filler I'll turn on the lathe and use clean burlap against the turning. BE CAREFUL!!! The finish looks almost as good as French Polishing.

Cocobolo has a tendancy to loose it's redness and turn brown when wetted with laquer or varnish. The Moore filler works great on Cocobolo to maintain the Redness:
http://www.turn2art.com/Microphone.jpg

Hope this helps... Good luck.:D

Added info: The Benjamin Moore filler is 24% solids yet is still paintable! Also... Sanding the finish down to bare Purpleheart will return the natural purple color (don't ask how I know!!!).

Michael~

[Don]

Hey, Michael - That's a great tip. Back in the day, using a wood filler was simply part of any finishing process. It's a step missed by most today. Wood is a porous and any glass-like finish will certainly benefit from having these filled.

dawjr