# Purple heart and CA glue



## Math2010 (Aug 11, 2017)

Hello!

I turned a purple heart pen blank and when I put my CA glue finish, it instantly became brown... When I turned another one and put shellawax, it stayed purple... Is there a chemical effect with the CA glue? Is there a way to keep the purple colour with CA?

Thank you


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## NVSB4 (Aug 11, 2017)

I was just watching a YouTube video yesterday about that.

Bring Out The Purple in Purpleheart


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## DJBPenmaker (Aug 11, 2017)

Math2010 said:


> Hello!
> 
> I turned a purple heart pen blank and when I put my CA glue finish, it instantly became brown... When I turned another one and put shellawax, it stayed purple... Is there a chemical effect with the CA glue? Is there a way to keep the purple colour with CA?
> 
> Thank you


I've done several purple heart pens with a CA finish, colour enhanced using a blowtorch first and none of them have lost their intense colour. Maybe there's a difference in CA's  
Others here may know better.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


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## MikeUT (Aug 11, 2017)

I have used Purpleheart in for pens and a few other misc. projects.  In my experience, machining the wood is what turns the wood brown. I haven't had that problem with the finish.  As DJBPenmaker said, a blowtorch will bring back the color.  I find it easier to control the color change with a heat gun.  If you can, heat the wood while the lathe is on WITHOUT the bushings in place.  I use unused brass tubes as spacers.  The bushings absorb a lot of the heat so it is hard to get a consistent color across the wood.

If your CA glue ends up being the actual cause, toss it and get a different CA glue.  I haven't used every glue out there but I can confirm that 2-P10 and Bob Smith Industries are both great quality and won't change the color of Purpleheart.


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