Purpleheart surprise

So, I ordered 20 board feet of purpleheart expecting to get the usual 3 to

6 inch widths. Got some of that, but also got one board 12 inches wide and 66 inches long. What a surprise. Now I just need to figure out what to do with it. Clearly something decorative. I was going to build some boxes thought purpleheart and maple would look good together.

dgadams

Reply to
dgadams
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What a great buy! Whatever you do- don't cut that board up to make smaller projects. The gods of woodworking would smite you mightily if you did. Maple and purpleheart are great together. I'm preparing to chose wood for a lap harp today and I'm looking forward to seeing what I have in my lumber stack. I haven't been in there much the past few years- so it will be a surprise. I'm hoping there may be a nice piece of birds- eye maple and I'll laminate that with some purpleheart, or padauk. Not that I need any more wood- since I have accumulated enough to last me two lifetimes, but I have to ask- from where did you get your wood? Donna Menke, author, The Ultimate Band Saw Box Book

Reply to
Donna

Put the rip blade on the tablesaw and rip it into the usual 3 to 6 inch widths. Then you'll know what to do with those! Mmmm... No.

Maybe a purple sofa table?

Reply to
Russ

Personally, I don't like combination of purpleheart and maple. Beside the lighter wood, purpleheart looks like Oscar Meyer bologna or something.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

Reply to
Brian

Indeed they do -- the combination can be stunning. One caveat, though: a few others have warned here that purpleheart turns brown with age. My experience (and that of most of the people who have posted on the subject) is the opposite: that it's brown when fresh-cut, and develops its rich purple color through exposure to sunlight. The consensus seems to be that there are two varieties of purpleheart, one which ages brown, and one which ages purple. Probably best to verify which you have before using it in a project.

Cut a small piece off of the board(s) you want to test, and expose the test piece(s) to sunlight. If the fresh-cut surfaces started out brown, and turn purple in the sun, they will [probably] stay that way.

A Google Groups search on purpleheart in this newsgroup should locate the earlier discussions.

Reply to
Doug Miller

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