Cocobolo

[hughbie]

i was going through what few pens i've turned and noticed that my first european that i turned using Cocobolo has turned colors. it started out as a slightly reddened wood and now it's turned orange/red. darkened quite a bit. i had finished it with CA and that was all.

is this normal? is this something that all cocobolo does? i'm still so new to this that even the normal stuff baffles me.

 

[JimGo]

Yes, it's pretty common for most woods to change color some with exposure to oxygen, ultraviolet rays, heat, or the like. For example, as you've experienced, Cocobolo will typically darken, causing some of the grain pattern to become more subtle.

 

[PenWorks]

Originally posted by JimGo
<br />Yes, it's pretty common for most woods to change color some with exposure to oxygen, ultraviolet rays, heat,

Not only woods...but I change color to in the summer here [8D]

 

[hughbie]

thanks....i didn't know if i had done something to it or not. it's not been outside at all and has a CA finish.....it just threw me for a loop.

 

[Dario]

Sad but in time, it will turn brownish gray.

In my experience, wiping cocobolo (before finishing) with DNA helps remove the oils and slow the color change. This is the ONLY wood that I use DNA on, all the rest get the "CA accelerator" treatment.

 

[ilikewood]

I deal in Cocobolo all the time. Most will turn a dark, brownish orange with oxidation. If you seal you wood after before finishing, the color will darken a bit, but it should hold most of its color for a lifetime. I have never had a piece go gray, but that is not saying it won't. Some of my wood in my cutting area is 10 years or older without a finish.

 

[SS]

I have a cribbage board that I made about 20 years ago with no finish. The color has not changed even with exposure to direct sunlight. I have made a pen set for a gentleman and a few months later it turned all black and it had been lightly finished with lacquer. I've noted that oil oxidizes the wood and therefore I don't use oil finishes on anything in the dalbergia genus. A few years ago I made a chess board from cocbolo that had so much violet in the coloration it looked like camatillo, but the color changed within a couple of days to ordinary cocobolo.

 

[woodwish]

Originally posted by PenWorks
<br />

Originally posted by JimGo
<br />Yes, it's pretty common for most woods to change color some with exposure to oxygen, ultraviolet rays, heat,

Not only woods...but I change color to in the summer here [8D]

Have you tried a CA finish to see if you still change color? [8D] At least you would be the shiniest person at the beach!