Purple Heart Wood

[dh]

I was at the wood store yesterday and came accross some Purple Heart. How do you finish it? Just some clear? Is there something that really makes it "pop"???

I realy haven't seen it before, and probably wouldn't have noticed it except they had a rough board that was 22"x14"x13' (Is that considered a board?) and wanted around $2500 for it.

[doug hodder]

I've used lots of purple heart in small projects and as details. The price makes it hard to justify using it for much more than that. A drawback to it, is that it will fade with UV, but that can be slowed with a UV protectant. It will lose it's purple appearance, kinda goes brown over time depending on the species, and the dust from it like many of the exotic hardwoods is toxic. I get congested and my arms break out and get itchy when I turn it.

Sharp carbide tools need to be used all the time as it will burn easily and it's a bear to get burned tool marks out of it.

As for as finishing...since my work has all been interior uses...I've used lacquer on it. It's a beautiful wood! Doug

[wannabefree]

I used it as an accent on The Paskett Case:

The other woods are African mahogany, maple, and birch.
As Doug said, it will turn brown with time. You can slow it, but I don't know of any way to stop it. Of course, that's true for pretty much any colorful wood. Just enjoy it, you're getting older, too!

[prohandyman]

I used purpleheart for the stripe and inlay on the Touring Lodge. As Doug said, it turns brown as you work it. Try not to get it too hot ( hard to do), as it turns browner with heat. I wiped it down with Acetone after cutting and installing was done, brought out more of the purple, then sealed it with epoxy and varnish

[Juneaudave]

I used purple heart on the bottom. It is really tough on tools and I thought it was very brittle and hard. It does finish well but, at least in the case of epoxy, you need to wipe with acetone prior to applying epoxy. A chunk of purple heart 22"x14"x13' would take a fork lift to move and a real man's saw to whittle down to size!!!!

[kennyrayandersen]

I agree with what’s been said as well. I’d probably use it again in small quantities for a jewelry box or something. The purple looks best if it’s been planed (by hand) and then scraped. Even sanding (probably from the heat as mentioned earlier) makes it go kind of brown and exposing to the sunlight (kind of like Lignum Vitae, which is another cool wood) changes colors. Lignum Vitae turns from gold to dark green, whereas purple heart goes from purple to brown. It looks pretty cool for a while, but its pretty spendy for what you get overall. I’m sort of cheap (I look more at the cost to benefit ratio) and would probably use walnut as a contrasting color rather than purple heart (not that purple heart doesn’t look good and all) just do to the cost and it not staying particularly purple over time.