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Purpleheart not staying purple

M

Mort

Joined
May 21, 2004
Messages
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Location
Downeast, Maine
Here is what I did and what happened

Two glue ups of purpleheart. One is end gain the other long grain. Both were roughed to a cylinder. The purple was there after roughing out on both glueups. Turned to finished shape. During that process the wood went brown and has since recovered a bit of the purple color in the long grain piece but not to it's former glory. The end grain piece is still more brown that purple. Tools were sharp, tool pressure was light, lathe speed was varied with no observable affect - the wood still went brown. Sanding -fresh paper, low speed - both off and on the lathe had no affect on the color of the wood - stayed brown.

What did I do that caused the color change? I really wanted the purpleheart to look purple - still do for that matter. Three guys in my wood turning club are mystified.

Thanks you for the help.
 
Mort,

All the nifty colors (pink ivory, box elder, etc) with red in them go to brown with age. I have heard that p-h will actually come back with sunlight [UV] exposure. Sounds counterintuitive, but worth a try.

M
 
You did not state as to whether you have applied a finish.Some finishes will cause different colors.I have been working with purpleheart wood for years in my box making.All I use is oil and wax.It will turn during the proccesing,but it always came back to a beautifull purple luster once I applied the finish and wax.Lacquer will hold the color very nice and make the purple stand out real nice.I just like the more natural looking finish that oil leaves.You will not have the light color,but a darker color once it had settled in.
Ken
 
I have heard several people talk about this and what they said was:

1. Sunlight will bring it back.
2. Lemon juice will bring the color back.

I have tried neither so I would suggest trying it on another piece first.
 
Thanks Ken I will give the oil - tung - a try. The pieces have no finish on them now.

I had read bedore that all of the colored woods eventually go to brown. This color change happend as I watched.
 
The color comes because the outer surface of the wood has oxidized. When you turn that surface away the intense purple color goes with it and the wood will stay brown until it re-oxidizes. Putting the wood in the sun will bring the color back faster but you have to be careful that the wood doesn't crack in the heat.

I have never heard of the lemon juice trick but it sounds interesting. It is similar to applying lye to cherry to bring out the red color. I'll have to try it sometime.

Joe
 
I think heat also speeds up the process of going from purple to brown. I have turned some kaleidoscope bodies that were nice a purple until I generated too much heat sanding, then it's "brownheart". It does seem like backwards logic but sunlight will bring the purple back out. Wierd?
 
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