Why does it work?

[pmpartain]

I read somewhere here that you can take a blowtorch to purpleheart and get the purple color to deepen. I tried it today and boy does it work! When the wood hits the critical temp you can seem the purple color wash over it almost like metal. Fantastic color. Why does it work?

Thanks to whomever wrote that little tidbit here. I also tried dipping the stuff in vinegar. Again, that works like a charm. Got a really great cranberry color on that one.

 

[TBone]

I've tried leaving it in the sunshine and that works really well, but both of these are new to me. It would be interesting to see before and after pics of those methods

 

[terrymiller]

I heat mine in the oven for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees and it does the same thing. As to why it works it is releasing the oils in the wood.

 

[pmpartain]

I should've taken the before pics. I only can take the after now. I've left them out in the sun before. That works pretty good, but not nearly as well as this did. You've gotta be careful not to burn the wood. The oven technique appears to be better. I'll have to try that.

Thanks

 

[angboy]

Does it fade though? Is this a temporary thing? For some reason I'm thinking that I'd read here before that it was?

 

[waterboy]

Dumb question, do you heat the whole blank before turning, or do you heat the wood after the pen shape is turned?

 

[pmpartain]

After you turn it. I've had blanks with good color to start. After you turn them, the purple color all but vanishes. You have to wait a few days with the blank in the sun for the purple to come back. This heat method short cuts that. I'm not sure if it is temporary though. I hope not.

 

[terrymiller]

I cant speak for the other methods used but I can for the way I do it. I have some un-turned blanks and a pen turned almost a year ago and they look like the day that they came out of the oven. really deep dark purple. You can play with the amount of time to get the darkness that you want it will also vary with each individual piece of wood.

 

[TBone]

I like the idea of the oven, that sounds a lot more controlled than the blow torch. I'd hate to turn a pen and then torch it to ashes with the torch. Talk about needing an ooops ring []

 

[Skye]

If it's a release of oils, it's got to be temporary. Only so much oil in the wood.

Very neat though, I had no idea []

 

[emackrell]

But if it's releasing oils -- why does dipping it in vinegar work???

Different process being unleashed?

cheers Eileen [8D]

 

[Dario]

You are right Eileen, I've read others actually gas it with hydrochloric/muriatic acid too and supposed to work similarly. I haven't tried it and will not recommend it. The oven technique seems much better.

 

[ctEaglesc]

I have fumne PH in a glass jar on a hot day with a container of muriatic acid in the jar.
The upside was the cranberry color was gorgeous!
The downside was CA would not stick to it.I took two pieces and left them clamped up with CA overnite and the next day I pulled them apart with no resistance.
Nice experiment never took it any further.
I didn't want to make a pen I couldn't put a hard finish on.I was a little leery of making a pen that may have acidic residue in it regardless of the finish.

 

[alamocdc]

Although it seems very contrary to what we as woodworkers stand by, several have posted that if you rinse the acid off of the fumed blanks (yes, with water) you can then treat it normally. I know wetting wood seems almost sacreligious, but if it works...

 

[Rifleman1776]

No matter what you do to enhance the color of purple heart, I'm pretty sure that with time it goes dark again.
BTW, Billy, wetting the wood is a time proven technique of gunstock builders/finishers use to get the finest surface and finish possible. They will sand to perfect smoothness, then wet. This raises the grain and 'hair' from previous sanding. Then they resand until smooth. Then re-wet, re-sand, numerous times until they are satisifed. My denatured alcohol evidentially contains some water. When I use it, the grain on a pen blank raises a bit. I then resand. It seems to be an OK method.

 

[elody21]

Ok, This might be cheating but here goes. I use a dye on the purple heart before I put a finish on it. You have to experiment with the color but if you use purple and pink or fushia it comes very close if not perfect to the color. If it is too strong Just sand some of it off or dilute it at the beginning. I use shoe "dye" not polish and have had no problems with purpleheart loosing it's purple! "Angelus" is the brand of shoe dye.
Be sure and let the wood come to purple again before dying.
Alice

 

[leatherjunkie]

Originally posted by waterboy
<br />Dumb question, do you heat the whole blank before turning, or do you heat the wood after the pen shape is turned?

I use a propane torch on the pen blanks after it is turned and sanded.
I will sand the blanks to 1000 grit and then use the torch.
I then walk away and have a smoke, this lets the wood cool from torching it. after the smoke I will resand the blank starting with 800 grit, this gets rid of the burnt feel from the torch.
I then go to the micro mesh. then put my finish on it.

 

[TellicoTurning]

before I started reading all of you finish methods, I always wiped my blanks with a little water to take of the sanding dust.. then used 6 to 8 coats of pen wax... got some really nice finishes... I'm working on using the CA and BLO now... you guys get some awesome finishes.