First Purpleheart bowl

It's been a very long time since I've turned Purpleheart. But as I recall, it is a very brittle wood prone to chipping - especially with heavy cuts. The color can be a brilliant purple when freshly cut but eventually will turn to a muddy gray-brown in most cases. Your bowl looks like it is about halfway there. You're doing great for a newbie, Brett !

Tom Gall said:

It's been a very long time since I've turned Purpleheart. But as I recall, it is a very brittle wood prone to chipping - especially with heavy cuts. The color can be a brilliant purple when freshly cut but eventually will turn to a muddy gray-brown in most cases. Your bowl looks like it is about halfway there. You're doing great for a newbie, Brett !

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Thanks Tom, I appreciate that. Yes, I lost a decent size chip during initial shaping and lost an inch of diameter by the time I was done. I wasn't sure which side of the plank to use as the top. The white/gray color on the front of the photo looked brittle to me, and it's only on the top half of the plank so I decided to use that for the top. I may try the reverse on the next piece and see how it looks.