Brown heart?!?!?

[PrplHrtJarHead]

Oh, wait a sec...I know I said that tint could work for me and that I'm a natural finish guy, which are uhhh, contradictory but this all started out because of the purple heart difficulties. BTW I am thoroughly intimidated by it now.

I really need to get some and work with it and figure it out for myself.

 

[D L Ames]

Dave, I really like that cutting board, it looks great.:icon_thum The pic of your thumb looks good too...........or is that your big toe?:eusa_thin

:lol: :lol: :lol:
D L

 

[Monty]

Wow, DaveO - some really nice PH projects there!!! You've encouraged me to stick it out. I wanted to use this for my heart inlay in the doll cradle I'm making. That combines two things I've never done before: purple heart and inlay. :lol:

Just to show what I was seeing (sort of), here is a pic of the resawn PH compared to the rough stock:

Funny how in that picture, it doesn't really look so brown! Trust me, it was brown.


Anyway thanks to your encouragement, I went ahead and put the brown purple heart in there, and I'll wait for a "change of heart", so to speak! Even if it doesn't change color, I think it still turned out OK...

I've got to move along here... up against a deadline, ya know!!! :roll:

 

[Jonz]

ok I see, I thought it was being said that it changed from purple to plain brown. I was thinking why bother then, just use brown in the first place.

 

[DaveO]

Insom. How did you do that inlay? By hand via the WG method, or with a router bushing inlay set? I have a running heart theme on things I make for my daugther, but I can't do the top inside point with my router set, and don't know how well I could make the final paring cuts with a chisel if I cut it out by hand. BTW, the cradle is looking really nice. Great job!:eusa_clap

Dave

 

[Monty]

WG method (only less expensive! ). Glued the paper pattern on the PH, cut out the PH inlay on scroll saw, shaped it down to the line on sanders, and made the sharp inside corner with exacto knife. Then lay the inlay over the maple, traced the edge with the exacto knife, and free-hand routed out a recess to a depth just a little less than the thickness of the PH inlay with a 1/8" spiral upcut bit. Cleaned out the sharp point in the recess with the exacto knife. A few (dozen) test fits later, trimming the edge of the recess where needed with the exacto knife, and it was a pretty good fit. Not perfect to my eye, but pretty good.

 

[DaveO]

Looks really good from what I see. I am scared of free-hand routing, I envision the router just shooting across my work piece. What size router, and how deep of a cut?

Dave

 

[Monty]

I used my Bosch 1617 on its plunge base. Depth of cut was just under 1/8". The PH inlay was just about 0.002" thicker than that, and I shaved it off after the glue set. One big recommendation is to hook up the shop vac -- I didn't have any trouble at all with dust clogging the recess or blocking my view of the cut line.

 

[D L Ames]

Ho...Ho....Ho Insom, your cradle is looking very good.:icon_thum I really like the heart design you selected for the heart inlay. How long do you estimate it took you to finish the inlaying once you got everything figured out and set up?

I hope the PH returns a to the color you are looking for. Either way it looks great as it is and is going to make a very nice Christmas gift.
D L

 

[Monty]

Took me about an hour to 1½ hours. Cutting and shaping the heart went quicker than I thought it would. The routing actually went pretty quickly also, I just really took my time along the cut line. Probably took about 20-30 mins to do the final fit before I glued it in.

 

[BobN]

I have been following this thread with interest because I have always heard these stories about purple heart changing color over time.

In May of 2001 my son graduated from ECU, ECU's colors are gold and purple, so I made him a frame of Oak (stained Golden Oak) and Purpleheart for his diploma. Today 4 and 1/2 years later the Purple heart is just as purple as it was the day I made it. So far the Purpleheart I used has not change colors at all. By the way it was finished with 6 coats of WaterLox.

Bob

 

[J. Fred Muggs]

Insmoniac:

The short version of the Purpleheart hoopla is this: Freshly cut it is brown. It turns purple on exposure to ultraviolet radiation and certain chemicals. On continued exposure to UV radiation it will turn brown again. UV inhibiting finishes can slow this process but will not stop it.

To get a nice purple color expose the freshly cut/sanded surfaces to sunlight or fluorescent light until purple then apply your finish.

 

[DavidF]

SteveD - that's my lake!!! you can't turn it purple!!

 

[Monty]

Thanks for the synopsis. Thanks to the support of this group, I was able to plow ahead and get 'er done! The purpleheart has started to turn purple, though it still has a way to go to reach the same color as the rough stock that I got it from.

 

[J. Fred Muggs]

I do a number of purple heart pens. I save them for the last one I turn before I turn in. snad and prepare for the finish. Than I pull a fluorescent drafting lamp that I use for lathe task lighting don to within a few inches of the turned pen blanks( still in the lathe). I wrap some aluminum foil aroung the lathe centers to form a makeshift reflector underneath the blanks and leave the light on overnight. Next evening, it's the prettiest shade of purple one could ask for. Finish it and go on to other stuff.

Try setting your box up close to a fluorescent light. Remember to finish with a UV protectant to preserve the color for the longest time.

 

[Monty]

So... what finish, then? I have heard stories about people putting a finish on a nice purple piece, and the solvents (thinner?) causing the thing to immediately turn brown. Probably not likely, but I would rather go with a tried-and-true finish than find out the hard way. I usually use General Finishes Seal-a-cell and Arm-r-seal on everything. I have no idea what UV protection that stuff offers, if any. I've been itching to try Waterlox, but I don't see how that would be any better. Should I seal it with shellac first?

 

[DaveO]

Earlier in this thread someone recommended Waterlox on a PH project they had. I have used BLO/MS/Poly mixtures with good success. I think that the key, is to not have it located in strong light. I don't think any finish would stand up to the afternoon beating sun. I am sure your cradle will be moved around a lot, so you can't control that but it will probably always be filled with baby dolls, and they are good UV blockers. I am finishing the PH in my latest project with Danish Oil, and several coats of spray gloss lacquer, ending with a semi-gloss coat. I tell you in a few years how it holds up:lol:

Dave

 

[chris99z71]

OK, as a chemistry geek and someone who used to work in R&D at Kodak doing research on the fading of inkjet dyes/pigments, I had to find out what this purple substance was. My brief search lead me to this website.
Obscure discussion about purpleheart.
I said, OK, peltogynol, huh? So I typed it into a search engine that I have access to that indexes scientific papers and came up with an article where they were trying to classify trees. They were grouping together species that contained peltogynol as being the same genus. I found it interesting because the paper was from the early 70's and they were extracting the peltogynol from the wood using benzene. But anyway, here's what it looks like for my fellow chemistry geeks that may be curious.

I'm still looking into this to see if I can get a better handle on it's formation and degradation pathways. My guess is that it's both formed and degraded (sequentially) by something like UV light. Very good chance that the rate at which it does so is also somewhat controlled by pH, temperature, and possibly ambient ozone levels. (unbeknownst to many, ozone is everywhere - it's levels fluctuate wildly throughout the year - higher in summer and lower in winter)

 

[Monty]

Thanks for looking into that... boy, it's amazing what you'll learn when you ask questions!

I just wanted to mention that someone recommended treating with muriatic acid or vinegar (see the link I posted earlier in this thread). Well, just for the fun of it, I tried rubbing some white vinegar on one of the scraps. This resulted in a pink color - still not purple. I've seen it described as "cranberry" color. The inlay is starting to change to purple, but if it doesn't change soon, I may just put some vinegar on it!