Did you earn your Purple Heart, or just get a scratch? :-)
--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com
"Ellestad" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Help! Finish experts - will Purple Heart keep its color in exterior use
with
> just a linseed oil finish?
>
> If not, what could I use that would preserve the color?
>
> Thanks for any info!
>
> Tim
>
>
Hey, Richard, watch the attributions, please!
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (Doug Miller) wrote:
>
> A freshly cut piece of purpleheart will be bright purple on both halves.
No, I didn't write that. Let's reformat this so it accurately reflects
who wrote what, shall we?
You have it exactly backwards. Did you really mean to write what you did?
Purpleheart is brown when cut, and turns purple on exposure to light
and/or air. Just look at a stack of it in a lumberyard some time: the
surfaces that are exposed to light are purple, and the boards on the
inside of the stack, where light can't reach them, are brown.
Now let's look at the post, formatted correctly, and see who wrote what:
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> A freshly cut piece of purpleheart will be bright purple on both halves.
> If I keep it in the shop it will remain the color for years. Once is is
> outside it will change color in a matter of days.
>
> Dick
>
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (Doug Miller) wrote:
> > In article <[email protected]>, "Mark L."
> > <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >I just read a little about Pupleheart. Left exposed it will turn a
> > >light brown color, unless you use a finish that blocks UV. If I'm
> > >wrong, someone correct me please. Mark L.
> > >
> > My experience with it is exactly the opposite: it needs UV light to
> > develop
> > the purple color, and stays brown otherwise. For example, I made a few
> > turned
> > Christmas tree ornaments from purpleheart a few years ago. Freshly
> > turned, the
> > color was a muddy purplish-brown. Two days of hanging them in my living
> > room
> > window changed the color to a vivid violet, which color they remain.
> >
> > One of these days, I'm gonna make some controlled tests...
In article <[email protected]>, "Mark L." <[email protected]> wrote:
>I just read a little about Pupleheart. Left exposed it will turn a
>light brown color, unless you use a finish that blocks UV. If I'm
>wrong, someone correct me please. Mark L.
>
My experience with it is exactly the opposite: it needs UV light to develop
the purple color, and stays brown otherwise. For example, I made a few turned
Christmas tree ornaments from purpleheart a few years ago. Freshly turned, the
color was a muddy purplish-brown. Two days of hanging them in my living room
window changed the color to a vivid violet, which color they remain.
One of these days, I'm gonna make some controlled tests...
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
For a copy of my TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter,
send email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com
You must use your REAL email address to get a response.
A direct quote from a Woodcraft store e-mail/ad
"Bright purple when cut, darkens to brownish purple with exposure to light.
Finishes with UV inhibitors will preserve the bright purple. "
It's the wood-of-the-month too.... whip eee..
"Doug Miller" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, "Mark L."
<[email protected]> wrote:
> >I just read a little about Pupleheart. Left exposed it will turn a
> >light brown color, unless you use a finish that blocks UV. If I'm
> >wrong, someone correct me please. Mark L.
> >
> My experience with it is exactly the opposite: it needs UV light to
develop
> the purple color, and stays brown otherwise. For example, I made a few
turned
> Christmas tree ornaments from purpleheart a few years ago. Freshly turned,
the
> color was a muddy purplish-brown. Two days of hanging them in my living
room
> window changed the color to a vivid violet, which color they remain.
>
> One of these days, I'm gonna make some controlled tests...
>
> --
> Regards,
> Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
>
In article <[email protected]>, brocpuffs <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Thu, 06 May 2004 13:00:24 -0700, Richard Cline <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>>In article <[email protected]>,
>>[email protected] (Doug Miller) wrote:
>>
>>A freshly cut piece of purpleheart will be bright purple on both halves.
>>If I keep it in the shop it will remain the color for years. Once is is
>>outside it will change color in a matter of days.
>
For the record, I didn't write that. That's what Richard Cline wrote, and he
inserted his comments in the wrong place. This is what I wrote:
> My experience with it is exactly the opposite: it needs UV light to develop
> the purple color, and stays brown otherwise. For example, I made a few
> turned Christmas tree ornaments from purpleheart a few years ago. Freshly
> turned, the color was a muddy purplish-brown. Two days of hanging them in my
> living room window changed the color to a vivid violet, which color they
> remain.
>
> One of these days, I'm gonna make some controlled tests...
Both of you, please be more careful with the attributions.
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
For a copy of my TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter,
send email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com
You must use your REAL email address to get a response.
In article <KPzmc.33209$IG1.1707939@attbi_s04>, "Ron" <[email protected]> wrote:
>A direct quote from a Woodcraft store e-mail/ad
>
>"Bright purple when cut, darkens to brownish purple with exposure to light.
>Finishes with UV inhibitors will preserve the bright purple. "
>
Trouble is, they got it exactly backwards. The only time I've ever seen
purpleheart "bright purple when cut" is when I've fed the wood too slowly and
started to burn it. Normally, it's brown when it's cut, and purple on exposure
to light and/or air.
All you need to do to see that Woodcraft has this turned around is to look at
a stack of purpleheart in one of their stores (or in any lumberyard). The
surfaces that are exposed to light and air are a deep, rich purple, and when
you shift boards around you will see that the parts that have not been exposed
to light are a muddy purple-brown.
I really can't imagine why this myth has such persistence, when a two-second
glance at a stack of purpleheart lumber is more than sufficient to refute it.
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
For a copy of my TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter,
send email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com
You must use your REAL email address to get a response.
I just read a little about Pupleheart. Left exposed it will turn a
light brown color, unless you use a finish that blocks UV. If I'm
wrong, someone correct me please. Mark L.
Ellestad wrote:
> Help! Finish experts - will Purple Heart keep its color in exterior use with
> just a linseed oil finish?
>
> If not, what could I use that would preserve the color?
>
> Thanks for any info!
>
> Tim
>
>
I've found that it varies from one piece to the next. I've got some tools
that I made using purpleheart, and the same finish on different pieces has
resulted in everything frmo no color change (dark purple) to chocolate
brown. The finishes I use are typically oil + wax - BLO, tung plus
bees/carnuba wax. I've had the same results with shellac.
I don't think its an effect of handling or environment - most of the tools
are one-offs for custom jobs, and get used once or twice, and put in storage
with all the other one-offs, so thier environmental conditions are the same,
and the amount of use is about the same....
I've read a lot of differnt opinions about what to do to maintain the color,
and (for me at least) its pretty much boiled down to luck.
--JD
"Ellestad" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Help! Finish experts - will Purple Heart keep its color in exterior use
with
> just a linseed oil finish?
>
> If not, what could I use that would preserve the color?
>
> Thanks for any info!
>
> Tim
>
>
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Doug Miller) wrote:
A freshly cut piece of purpleheart will be bright purple on both halves.
If I keep it in the shop it will remain the color for years. Once is is
outside it will change color in a matter of days.
Dick
> In article <[email protected]>, "Mark L."
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> >I just read a little about Pupleheart. Left exposed it will turn a
> >light brown color, unless you use a finish that blocks UV. If I'm
> >wrong, someone correct me please. Mark L.
> >
> My experience with it is exactly the opposite: it needs UV light to
> develop
> the purple color, and stays brown otherwise. For example, I made a few
> turned
> Christmas tree ornaments from purpleheart a few years ago. Freshly
> turned, the
> color was a muddy purplish-brown. Two days of hanging them in my living
> room
> window changed the color to a vivid violet, which color they remain.
>
> One of these days, I'm gonna make some controlled tests...
>
> --
> Regards,
> Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
>
> For a copy of my TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter,
> send email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com
> You must use your REAL email address to get a response.
>
>
We have had comments from many experts, there must be more than one
purpleheart. I just went into the shop and sliced off a piece of
purpleheart with the bandsaw. The outside of this board is a pleasant
brownish-purple. The new cut is a bright purple on both sides. The
bandsaw certainly does not overheat the wood. Perhaps some people have
a different experience but I am confident of the behavior of the board
in my possession.
Dick
[email protected] (Doug Miller) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> In article <KPzmc.33209$IG1.1707939@attbi_s04>, "Ron" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >A direct quote from a Woodcraft store e-mail/ad
> >
> >"Bright purple when cut, darkens to brownish purple with exposure to light.
> >Finishes with UV inhibitors will preserve the bright purple. "
> >
> Trouble is, they got it exactly backwards. The only time I've ever seen
> purpleheart "bright purple when cut" is when I've fed the wood too slowly and
> started to burn it. Normally, it's brown when it's cut, and purple on exposure
> to light and/or air.
>
> All you need to do to see that Woodcraft has this turned around is to look at
> a stack of purpleheart in one of their stores (or in any lumberyard). The
> surfaces that are exposed to light and air are a deep, rich purple, and when
> you shift boards around you will see that the parts that have not been exposed
> to light are a muddy purple-brown.
>
> I really can't imagine why this myth has such persistence, when a two-second
> glance at a stack of purpleheart lumber is more than sufficient to refute it.
I will refute it in photos:
http://arwomack01.home.att.net/images/purple_pre.jpg
http://arwomack01.home.att.net/images/purple_sun.jpg
Purpleheart bought from the same store at different times. The one
that stayed purple was cut and was brown. The ones that are brown
were purple when cut.
From a conversation I had with Steve Knight of Knight Toolworks, I
understand there are two types of purpleheart. Therefore it depends
on which type you happen to get. I unfortunetly end up with both and
it is a problem for this project:
http://arwomack01.home.att.net/images/butterfly_box.jpg
I've tried heating purpleheart with a heat gun (not too effective) and
microwaving it. It will darken in there, but only where it was in
contact with a towel which must have trapped moisture heat trying to
escape.
Alan
Richard Cline wrote...
> there must be more than one purpleheart.
That is it, exactly. I have used varieties with both characteristics, and
both are usually sold simply as "purpleheart." The species is rarely
given (or known) by the lumber provider.
The more common type is brown when cut and purples over time. The other
variety is bright purple when fresh cut -- brighter than the other type
ever becomes -- but this one fades over time. The one that becomes purple
over time seems to stay that way essentially indefinitely.
Jim
On Thu, 06 May 2004 13:00:24 -0700, Richard Cline <[email protected]>
wrote:
>In article <[email protected]>,
>[email protected] (Doug Miller) wrote:
>
>A freshly cut piece of purpleheart will be bright purple on both halves.
>If I keep it in the shop it will remain the color for years. Once is is
>outside it will change color in a matter of days.
That is _not_ true. A freshly exposed purpleheart surface is BROWN,
and will regain its purple color on exposure to at least air, over a
day or so. Long exposure to bright light will turn it brown again. I
think (hope) a finish with an ultraviolet blocker, for example
Minwax's Clear Shield, will hold off this return to brown.
I have read it and know it firsthand, having been working with it
extensively since last summer on a cabinet project.
James
[email protected]
Maybe you're both right. From the USDA tech sheet on purpleheart:
"Heartwood brown when freshly cut becoming deep purple upon exposure,
eventually turning to a dark brown sharply demarcated from the off-white
sapwood. Texture medium to fine; luster medium to high, variable; grain
usually straight, sometimes wavy, roey, or irregular; without distinctive
odor or taste.
"
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechSheets/Chudnoff/TropAmerican/html_files/peltog1n
ew.html