Finish for purple heart....

Trey1984

Trey
User
I'm building a jewelry box for my better half out of purple heart and ambrosia maple. It will have dovetail case construction with 3 drawers (2 small ones on the left side and 1 long oneacross the bottom) and frame and panel door. The drawer fronts and panel for door will be ambrosia maple and the rest of the box will be purple heart. I have never worked with any exotics so I know nothing about the process of finishing with this kind of wood. I've seen on YouTube that people clean. The oils off with denatured alcohol. I'm going to do some research before doing but would like some input/suggestions on prep and kind of finishes. Thanks in advance! Did find out it loves to splinter.
 

ssmith

New User
Scott
Sand down to 220 or 320 grit, then clean with a tack rag. After that, 3-4 light coats of Watco semi-gloss spray laquer turns out really well.

There are a lot of other choices out there but I wouldn't recommend polyurethane. Oil based will give it an amber tint, and water based tends to look plasticy.

Edit: Added pix to show sample of laquer.
 

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PeteM

Pete
Corporate Member
If you like a natural wood finish I'd recommend Rubio Monocote.
If not, a traditional lacquer finish (spray can is fine) or shellac are the go-to choices.
Lots of personal preference here. Do some test pieces and see what you like.
 

Trey1984

Trey
User
I have some shellac flakes might try that or the Rubio monocote because the natural wood finish it's what I'm looking for. That looks good Scott. Is that maple? That's pretty much what I'm trying to go for.
 

iclark

Ivan
User
When mixing light and dark woods, it is often a good idea to sand and finish them separately before assembly.
Getting sanding dust rubbed into the maple makes it really hard to get the maple back to pure maple color.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
If you like a natural wood finish I'd recommend Rubio Monocote.
If not, a traditional lacquer finish (spray can is fine) or shellac are the go-to choices.
Lots of personal preference here. Do some test pieces and see what you like.
When mixing light and dark woods, it is often a good idea to sand and finish them separately before assembly.
Getting sanding dust rubbed into the maple makes it really hard to get the maple back to pure maple color.
Just heard about it on Burbon Moth You-Tube. Expensive, but looks very promising. For a one off project, might just use traditional oil/wax.
 

ssmith

New User
Scott
I have some shellac flakes might try that or the Rubio monocote because the natural wood finish it's what I'm looking for. That looks good Scott. Is that maple? That's pretty much what I'm trying to go for.
Thanks. It's sapele, maple, purpleheart, and bubinga. Used laquer mainly because I didn't want to darken the maple or alter the tone of the purpleheart, didn't want build-up (filling the grain), and needed something fairly durable.

It really depends on what you want the finish to look like and how durable you want it to be. If you're not sure, particularly if you haven't actually used shellac before, I'll echo Pete - take the time to test on samples to see what you like.
 

FredP

Fred
Corporate Member
Danish oil. Several coats. Easy to apply and the grain will pop. Finnish with a coat of wax.
 

cyclopentadiene

Update your profile with your name
User
Purpleheart does change color over time die to uv light exposure. If you want to maintain the color you may want to look at a finish with UV blocking additives.
 

Bill J

Bill
User
I was seeing a lot of variation in purpleheart color and did a test last year. I have too many years of experimental training to just go with common knowledge. What I found was surprising (to me). Unfortunately, I can't find the photos I took during the experimental process. The main point of variation is the basic color of the board. That is pretty obvious, if you get a really bright purple board it will retain more color. What I didn't expect was that allowing the board to sit while exposed to air for several weeks allowed the purple color to recover. This is not the transition to burgundy that comes with light exposure. Oil seemed to retain more of the original color but Poly with UV protection kept the slightly muted color longer. So for cutting boards or boxes, I let the wood sit for at least 2 weeks on painter's pyramids then oil finish. Similarly, for furniture I just let the unfinished piece sit. Attached are two pictures, One is a cutting board with oil finish that is about 6 months old and the other is a table top with poly/UV that is a year old. Both retained a nice purple color.
 

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