triw51
Member
I had a order for a pen made with purple heart wood. My question is which finish will bring out the color best?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
John is right on about Purple Heart. You could get eleven, seven, or snake eyes. You won't know until you use it!! I have used Purple Heart for pens, cases, and bracelets, with different results in color when finished. I tried clear poly, lacquer, varnish, wax, CA, and a few others with no constant result. My wood rack has several Purple Heart boards that have remained purple for over ten years with no finish at all. But as John suggested to above, they have never seen sunlight/UV rays and are kept in a controlled humidity/heat wood room. Tonight I sprayed a Blood Wood case I had made with clear lacquer and it made the color really stand out, which I found unusual, as Blood Wood seems to lose it's fantastic red coloring and turn a dull muddy brown, much the same as Purple Heart. It will be a few days before the case is ready to post, but it should be interesting to see if the color stays as bright as it is now. Jim S
John; Agreed !! I have been collecting exotic woods for over 50+ years now, and what is being sold today is nothing like what you could buy 20-30 years ago. If you want to buy the real deal today, you are going to have to find an honest exotic wood dealer and pay up for the real thing. And, yes, you can feel the difference in the weight of true exotic woods. Wait until you see the colors in the Blood Wood case I am working on. Be well !! Jim S
That's one beautiful pen John.
I will be getting into segmented pens very soon. I have played around with the Celtic knot which turned out nice, then cut the blank down it's length in a wavy pattern and glued a contrasting veneer between the two pieces, this was done on two sides with two veneers. The pen turned out well. All I need to do now is, learn to take some quality pictures so I can post to IAP.
Dave.