How do you keep purple heart purple?

Wait. The Purpleheart is not purple inside, it becomes so when exposed to light, so after milling you expose fresh, unpurpled wood. After a few days it should be fine.

On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 08:14:19 +0100, Juergen Hannappel scribbled:

Like Juergen said, wait, it'll turn purple again soon. However, on some purpleheart, the colour might fade after a few years. No way of telling which kind you got, as far as I know.

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The purple will come with sunlight. I put small turnings in the cupholder in the armrest of my truck and the colour is back in a day. To keep the colour, I have read about using Armoural since the UV blockers in this are supposed to help. I have just tried this recently so I do not have any long term results yet. Brad Harding hardingpens.com

My understanding is that UV light causes it to turn brown. Sanding it will turn it back to purple. I have used exterior finish with UV inhibitors to keep it purple. max

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Sorry, couldn't help myself...

You already know the answer, grasshopper - patience! Oxygen, possibly light exposure, and time.

Greg G.

Hmm, conflicting responses here. The only living example of purple heart I saw was on a boat deck. It had turned a dirty grey brown after being on deck unvarnished about 3 years, which would seem to support your idea. It was very sturdy. I may try buffing it back to a brilliant luster. Thanks.

As I remember from the same discussion several years ago, purple heart is a common name for about 6 different trees. The response of the wood may depend on the particular tree the wood came from.

You can look at a stack of purple heart and see at least a couple different color tones in the different boards. I once made the mistake of buying a plank then going back to get another and ended up with two different purple hearts. The jewelry box never did look right.

I've had a plank in the garage near the door for several years. It has kept its color. When I cut it it turned brown but within a week it was back to a nice color again for finishing of the jewelry boxes.

Actually it can be purple inside. I have seen it go both ways. My last batch the inside was as purple as the outside. Other batches became very dark purple imediately at the cut and turned brown as it aged inside and not exposed to light.