purpleheart turning brown

[Kenith]

I have a quick question about purpleheart. Does it turn brown if you get it too hot while turning it? I have a sneaking suspicion that it does and i just need to keep my tools sharper.

Ken:BangHead:

 

[sapwood]

A turner NO, I am :mrgreen:
However, I have worked with purpleheart. When you sand or cut (perhaps turn) the wood turns brown. Give it some light/sun or time and it returns to the original color. On occasion I have applied a finish while it was still brown and the purple was back within one day. :icon_thum

Roger

 

[Splinter]

Yes, it will trun brown....then with a little time (few hours to a day or sunlight it will return to purple. But I have read that over time (length of time a ?) it will turn brown again and quicker if it in sunlight. Not as quick if it is finished with a UV protectant.

 

[Makinsawdust]

P-Heart is not just one species of purple wood. After I learned that, the color variations and color change started to make sense. Some p-heart is brownish when freshly cut and turns bright purple when exposed to UV light. Other times the boards will be purple even when freshly cut and then turn brown with time. Most of the time it stays purple under lacquer.
Somewhere I read that there are 50 species of purple wood and 30 some are harvested and sold as purpleheart. I wish I could only remember the source where I read this.
Rob