Sunbathing Purpleheart

[Ken Massingale]

I've resawn some ~5" wide PH, 7/8" thick down to 1/2" boards and run them thtough the planer and finally the drum sander.
Frankly, it was strange seeing the nice purple board become a nice milk chocolate color, still with purple edges, no less.
Anyway, I've had the resawn pieces out in the sun, turned them a couple of times, etc. They are returning to purple, but so far I have some small (narrow) white streaks. Where the heck white came from with a purple and chocolate heritage, I have no idea. So, for your experienced PH users (er, Pappy!), am I doing something wrong or just impatient as usual?
TIA,
ken

[Tom Miller]

I opened the thread just to see how the heck someone could get awarded a Purple Heart for sunbathing.

But now that I'm here...

You're obviously on the right track making it purple again. I imagine you have to be careful when you put it in the sun so as not to bake the moisture out of one side, which could cause the board to cup.

Regarding the white lines, can you sand them out? I wonder if they'll turn white again when put back in the sun.

Any chance there were birds flying over?

Regards,
Tom

[gjbivin]

I had heard that purpleheart turns brown in the sun after a while. That always disappointed me: what's the fun in building something wth funky purple wood, if it's just going to look ordinary in a couple of years?

[Pappy]

I had heard that purpleheart turns brown in the sun after a while. That always disappointed me: what's the fun in building something wth funky purple wood, if it's just going to look ordinary in a couple of years?

Actually it will eventually turm black, but Ken has the right idea. If you pull a piece from a stack that has been coverred up for a while, it will look brown. Just have some patients, Ken.

And where as purple sawdust in the 60's?????

[gjbivin]

And where as purple sawdust in the 60's?????

Getting wet in the purple rain...

[Ken Massingale]

Getting wet in the purple rain...

And after the purple rain, there was the Purple Haze! 60's and 70's, what an experience, probably will never happen again.

Oh, the purpleheart has enjoyed it's time outside, returning to a beautiful dark shade of purple.

[gerti]

The web page mentioned in this article:

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=21870

says this:

* Purpleheart {Peltogyne pubescens} wood can be made to become a darker shade of purple in two ways. One is by placing it in direct sunlight, and this will only darken the color superficially, it can be sanded off very easily. The second way, is by heating it, at say 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 - 12 minutes. This will darken the color, not only on the surface but also throughout the whole piece.

[Ken Massingale]

Thanks Gerd. I'll try that today.
ken

[Pappy]

Ken, no idea what the white streaks are. The last piece I bought has them, too. I asked at Hogan's but my man there didn't know either.

[gerti]

Thanks Gerd. I'll try that today.
ken

Don't blame me if it catches on fire! But do let us know if it works!