Purple Heart

it sounds like you burned the edges that you cut. purpleheart is very hard and dense. needs a sharp blade. sanding the edges should take the burned stuff off. one thing, when sanding, i found out about this when turning a pen, is that it will probably turn a whitish purple. that's ok, just leave it in a sunny area, turning every now and then, and it will darken up nicely.
 
Les, purpleheart is a funny wood. I've seen blazing purple pieces turn brown on any sort of exposure to air or UV, and I've seen brown pieces turn purple on exposure. It's hit-and-miss which way it'll go. If yours is turning brown, that appears to be how that one will go. I've got some in my shop that's been royal purple for about five years now, with no finish. I've had some, though, that turned the color of walnut inside two weeks.
 
If I may Les, Purpleheart is kinda funny. It needs to oxidize for a bit before it "purples" up. When I do peppermills from it, I finish turning and most sanding then stand it on a table in the middle of the yard, geographical locations not withstanding. 4-6 hours and Shazam!!! it's purple.
Good luck!
 
Exactly..the outside has had the chance to oxidize. Once you cut it, turn it, shave it, plane it...you get the idea, the fresh surface needs to oxidize again. I don't remember if it's an organic or mechanical reaction, but it is a reaction.
 
Jim
Placed in the sun yesterday, fliped it a few times, and I can start to see a small
change already. I should hold off with the finish till the right color comes back I
Guess
 
On the lathe when turning pens (the only exposure I have had to Purple heart) when friction finishing if it isn't purple, I use brown/rough paper towels and get it HOT. It turns the deepest purple. Then with around four coats of clear/white Hut's friction finish, the color has stayed with the pens I have kept for the past three years.
 
Now if we could only do that with trunks and hair forks!
Somehow though I don't think they would particularly care to be put on the lathe :dunno:
 
Jonathan

I just tried something, and it worked wonderfully. I took my heat gun to the purple heart, and it came out perfectly. The longer you hold the heat
to it the darker it gets. I had one side darker than the other side so i used
320 grit sand paper, and sanded it till it matched the oppsite side. It worked great thanks for the heat tip............
 
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