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purpleheart (Read 1,253 times)
 
Ned A from South GA
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purpleheart
Sep 5th, 2005 at 11:17am
 
I have been using a bit of purpleheart lately and have to say it can be a real pain in the rear. Besides being harder than dried snot, it can take on a very pitted look, despite being very smooth to the touch.

The question is, how do you keep it from looking pitted, or is that just the nature of the beast here.  Any other tricks of the trade when dealing with the purple monster is also well apprecieated.
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E. Bud Gillaspie
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Re: purpleheart
Reply #1 - Sep 5th, 2005 at 4:35pm
 
Ned, be very careful w/purpleheart, the dust is more toxic than walnut. RE: the pitted look  It's probably very fine sanding dust left in the pores of the wood. From my experience greenheart, redheart, all the cocobolos, and snakewood have the same problem.

I blow off all the dust and then wipe down the piece w/either a dry cloth or a cloth w/a tiny bit of acetone. Don't let the piece set before finishing; environmental dust will settle on the piece and you're back to sq. 1. I like paper towels for both cleaning a piece and applying a finish. Oil finish-soaked paper towels burn nicely in my wood-burning stove.
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kidcolombia
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Re: purpleheart
Reply #2 - Sep 5th, 2005 at 4:54pm
 
Ned, I have had the problem that you describe as well as others (white blotches) with purpleheart.  I finally was able to deal with it by using spray lacquor rather than oil and wax (after sanding to 600 grit).  Problem solved.  Had like problems with a wood similar to walnut, but softer and much darker which here is called black cedar. 

Hope this helps you,

Jim
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JIM
 
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Ned A from South GA
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Re: purpleheart
Reply #3 - Sep 5th, 2005 at 4:59pm
 
Thanks guys
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Chris Wright
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Re: purpleheart
Reply #4 - Sep 5th, 2005 at 7:54pm
 
Most of you know that I turn ALOT of purpleheart and Ned, I have to say these guys are right on.  Blow off the piece and use a wipe on finish, with the first coat thick, it's easier to wipe off extra finish after it has soaked into the 'pits' than to try and hit each one individually.
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Ned A from South GA
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Re: purpleheart
Reply #5 - Sep 6th, 2005 at 3:09am
 
Again, thanks, I mostly wanted to make sure the pits were a normal part of turning purpleheart.

Do you use a sanding sealer before sanding, that seemed to help a lot.

The nice part was that the purpleheart seemed to take the tools well and other than the pits could easily start at 220 for sanding.
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« Last Edit: Sep 6th, 2005 at 3:10am by Ned A from South GA »  

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billtr96sn
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Re: purpleheart
Reply #6 - Sep 6th, 2005 at 9:49am
 
Hi ya, the purpleheart we have over here must be different to yours, brown when you turn it and on exposure to the air it oxidises and turns purple? If it is the same then I too have turned a lot of it and had not real bother apart from it being very hard and a tool blunter, I had to sharpen my tools every couple of minutes when turning it, but it took a beautiful finish.

I think as ours isnt indigineous it is dried very slowly and it is very very expensive it is older and been on the shelf longer.
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