# Brown purple hart



## ross51

Every time I turn purple hart it turns more brown than purple.  Can anyone explain why?  I am posting a bad PIC of a purple hart bird house.  The wood was much more purple before I turned it.  All help is appreciated.


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## Skye

There's ways to get it to turn purple again. Something to do with baking the piece, not sure how hot or how long though.


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## RussFairfield

I think Purpleheart has a mind of its own. 

I have read and been told that setting it the sun will make the color return, and that setting it in the sun will make it turn brown; that baking it in the oven will make the color come back, and that baking it in the oven will make it turn brown; that doing nothing will make the color return, and that doing nothing will make it turn brown. 

My expderience is that doing nothing on one piece of wood will make the color stay, while another from the same board will change to brown. I cannot predict which will do which.

The only thing that I do know is that Muriatic Acid will give it a Cranberry color, and that color will not change.

By the way, your photo looks pretty purple to me.


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## Paul Downes

I just turned 2 purple heart pen /perfume pen sets and was quite disappointed when they turned brown in the final step. I think (guess) that the wood reacts with the blo/CA finish I generaly use. I suspect it's the glue. However, after setting them aside for a week in the sunlight they turned back too a nice natural purple color. I suspect that the glue has a chance to off-gas in that time period and then the wood turns back. I took out an 'insuance policy' on the order and turned 2 sets using purple dyed boxelder burl and the customer was quite happy with the result.


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## guts

ross,either my eyes are worse than i thought or my monitor is crazy but the purple heart looks plenty purple to me.


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## Snazzypens

UV rays work really good to get it color back place it on a window sill and don't forget to rotate it. It great.
Toni


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## jtate

Russ,  

where does one obtain muriatic acid and how does one apply it to purpleheart?

Julia


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## ross51

The pic does look more purple than it really is but is not close to the purple it started out.  I just cut a blank for a pen and turned the top.  When I compared it with the bottom, it was closer to brown with just a hint of purple.

Muriatic acid.  Is that what you use to change the ph in a swimming pool?


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## alamocdc

Julia, you can get muriatic acid from any home improvement store. It's used to clean concrete, wash lime deposits off of boats that have been in the water a long time, and various of calcium eating tasks. It's basically just diluted hydrochloric acid.

Some fume their blanks and and I've read where others submerse theirs. Submersion might work faster (and deeper), but [?]. Just make sure you neutralize the acid with a baking soda wash before working any of it.


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## turned_for_good

When I have turned purpleheart I just leave it as is and in a month or so you can start to see it turn back to a vibrant purple.  I made the wife a pen out of the stuff and was dissapointed with the brown color but looking at it now, about 5-6 months later, it is the greatest color of purple.


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## LEAP

After reading this I checked on a cigar pen I turned about a month ago that had turned brown and it has regained most of its purple shade. It was my first purple heart pen and I was dissapointed when it lost all its color. Now I don't feel so bad about buying the board I cut the blank from. Of course now I'll have to squirel it away or my daughter will grab it.
Phil


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## bradh

I hang my turned purpleheart blanks from a wire on the rear view mirror of my truck. I can rotate it and keep an eye on it. It can turn colour as quickly as a day when it is sunny or a few days when it is overcast.
  Don't let it sit too long or the colour will darken again.
Brad Harding


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## jtate

Having had this whole ear infection thing, which may or may not have been related to wood-dust, I think I will just forego the muriatic acid thing for a while.  If plain old wooddust is bad for me, I can't imagine what acidic wood dust would do.  ANd I know me, I'll mess up the neutralizing process and it will still be acidic and bad stuff will happen.


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## Skye

Dont women pay a lot for chemical peels? You could do it on the cheap!


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## leatherjunkie

I turned purpleheart for handles to a rolling pin.
Pin isnt finished yet will post pics when finished.
when i got to 800 grit sanding step i just sanded very slow with lots of pressure to let heat build up. Lathe set to 2600 speed.
I just keep sanding this way till i saw the color change to what i wanted then went to 1000 grit. sanded lightly with the 1000 grit paper and finished.

heat does bring out the purple real well. just be carefull when heating purpleheart up. i heated up a pen too fast and too hot. the wood cracked bad[B)]. getting too hot might be because i was using a propane torch[] on the wood to heat it up.

from what i have read(which can be a hazard to me) in order to keep the purpleheart from fading to brown, use a uv protective finish.
I read the uv rays from the sun will cause it to fade to brown. 
a uv protective finish is supposed to stop that from happening. 
dont ask me where i read this as i cannot remember.


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## Snazzypens

Leatherjunkie that is the total opposite what I was told. I got told getting to hot lathing and sanding is the cause of the brown.[:I]
Toni


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## leatherjunkie

> _Originally posted by aussie_chick_
> <br />Leatherjunkie that is the total opposite what I was told. I got told getting to hot lathing and sanding is the cause of the brown.[:I]
> Toni



Toni,

toss some scrap purpleheart on your lathe. turn it round and sand it smooth with 220 gritt then just hit it with 800 gritt. use more pressure than you would normally use and move it very slow. you will feel the heat build up through the sandpaper. you will also notice the color changing on the wood when it gets hot enough. when you see the color change just keep the sandpaper moving left to right very slowly. you will see the color change follow the sandpaper as you move it. using this method you can bring out the purple in stripes instead of the whole piece of wood. kinda cool being able to make it 2 tone this way.


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## bradh

Actually both are correct, because the colour shifts first from brown to purple, then switches back to brown if you keep heating it. The trick is to stop when the colour is at its best.
Brad Harding


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## Rifleman1776

> _Originally posted by bradh_
> <br />Actually both are correct, because the colour shifts first from brown to purple, then switches back to brown if you keep heating it. The trick is to stop when the colour is at its best.
> Brad Harding



Not just with heating. With time. P'heart will turn brown eventually.


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## BigRob777

Purpleheart always cuts brown, unless you heat it up, but it reacts to sunlight and turns purple.  When you burn wood on a dull saw blade, it turns a dark purple.  It's like Lignum Vitae.  I left some out in the sun one day and it turned a dark green.  My purpleheart blanks turn darker purple over time and exposure.  The ones in the middle of the stack don't change much, if any.  I've heard the word for it, like "photosensitive", but I'm not sure if that's correct.
Rob


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## whatwoodido

Purpleheart turns brown when freshly cut, will then return to purple with UV exposure, then will start turning brown again with more UV exposure.  All wood darkens / turns brown.


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## bob393

> _Originally posted by aussie_chick_
> <br />Leatherjunkie that is the total opposite what I was told. I got told getting to hot lathing and sanding is the cause of the brown.[:I]
> Toni



This is what I was told also. Less heat is better!!


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## patsfan

For those looking for muriatic acid sources, you can get the same cranberrying effect by wiping on white vinegar.  It is both cheaper and safer, and you are more likely to have some around the house.


Mike


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## TellicoTurning

Just a word of warning, I tried to heat a piece of PH in my microwave.. guess I set the level too high.. keept smelling smoke in the shop and finally looked in the MWO.. no fire yet, but 1/2 second below flames I'm sure... it did turn nice and purple on parts of the piece... but I also had some char on the top... ain't gonna do that no more.[]


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## chrisc73

Hello, I am new to the site and thought I would put in my thoughts. I have used Purple Heart when making knives, yes when you machine it, it will loose the purple color. To get the purple color back the wood needs to be exposed to ultraviolet light (the sun will eork), this might take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. remember this has to be done before any finish has been put on the piece. Hope this information helps
Chirs Crawford


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## desert1pocket

Most of the posts here so far are correct, although confusing.  Purpleheart is naturaly a brown color inside, but exposure to uv rays turns it purple.  Heat can also have the same effect, but can be easy to overdo.  The benefit to using heat, is that it is a more permanent way to bring out the color, and it will be less suceptible to fading over time.  Just as with almost any wood, prolonged exposure to the sun over many years will cause the color to fade, and it will eventually turn a grey-brown.  IMO the best way to treat it is to create the peice, expose it to UV rays until it reaches the desired color, and then finish it with a UV protective finish. As others have mentioned, the chemicals in PH also have a color reaction with acids, which will turn it a dark red color.  Anything acidic will work, but IMO the saftest and easiest product for this is lemon juice.


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## Hiram33

when i turn purple hart it is brown then I hand it out side on a sunny day and the purple comes back nice bird house


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## chigdon

Keep in the closet in the dark and it will stay purple.

If a piece is purpleheart in the dark and no one is there to see it is it really purple?[]


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## oldtoolsniper

In Bruce Horadys book on understanding and Identifying wood he explains it. Most of your woods that have vibrant colors will become Doo Doo brown with UV exposure. Wood Magazine recently did an article on a cherry headboard they produced a few years ago that was all color matched and today itâ€™s not color matched as the sap wood and the heartwood have reacted differently as time has past. Itâ€™s like casting your own resin blanks, you never know whatâ€™s going to happen.


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## jtate

http://www.penturners.org/oldalbums/jtate/tn/tn_purpleheart.jpg

Here's a comparison.  The one on the left has not been heated. the one on the right has been in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.  

I may heat it more.  Maybe the color will get more intense.
Or maybe it will rutn brown.  Who knows.


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## jtate

PURPLEHEART: Here's another picture after an additional ten minutes at 350 degrees.




Not much difference...


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## eastbay

For me it is like Argentine lignum which with more sunlight the greener same as purple heart but to much will  turnit from a nice purple to brownish. Sometimes wet sanding helps also to keep it cool so it will not brown.


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