How do I make my purple Gidgee purple?

[Beedeejay]

Hey all,
at last years working with wood show I picked up a few pen blanks out of purple Gidgee,
They had a deep purple look to them, and I have just tried to use my first piece of it to make a pen,
now when I drilled it the shavings from inside the blank we're combing out a browny/ orange / yellow colour and I didn't think much of it,but now as I have turned it round and started to get close to where I want it has changed to a brown colour and lost all of its purple.

So,

how can I get the purple back?
Is is possible( I hope so as my customer specifically wanted the "purple timber I had with me"

any help is appreciated

Cheers Ben

[bench1holio]

sit it out in the sun for the day before you apply any finish and it will go nice and purple! :2tsup:

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Sorry to tell you this, but it probably won't happen. :(

Many of the strongly coloured timbers, esp. the purple ones (eg. most 'types' of Purple-heart), change colour when heat is applied. Irreversibly.

Do you have more of the blanks? You really, really, really have to take it slow when drilling out. The drill bit should never, at any stage, be too hot to touch. Even if it takes you an hour of "drill 2mm, back out the drill, wait two seconds, drill 2mm, back out..."

UV (leaving it in a sunny place) can often enhance the colour (works for most types of Purplehearts, anyway) but although the purple is "strengthened" the brown's often don't fade, resulting in a murky brown AND purple colour.

It sux, but sometimes ya gotta do what works rather than what is expedient. :sigh:

[corbs]

I thought Purple Gidgee was named for the purple band between the heart and sap wood. Purpleheart can be affected by UV light but I don't think you can change the colour of Purple Gidgee.

[bench1holio]

I thought Purple Gidgee was named for the purple band between the heart and sap wood. Purpleheart can be affected by UV light but I don't think you can change the colour of Purple Gidgee.


Guess youll just have to believe me then! :;

[hughie]

If you can get hold of some Lignostab it will hold the colour of any timber

http://www.dispersions-pigments.basf.com/portal/basf/ien/dt.jsp?setCursor=1_556319

and here

http://www.specialchem4coatings.com/tds/lignostab-1198/ciba-now-part-of-basf/24978/index.aspx

[Beedeejay]

Thanks guys. I will try sunlight. And I will look at those links when I get back inside.
Here is a photo of the turned blank and a photo of the other end of the blank (hasn't been drilled or turned yet)

sorry uploaded from from my phone and they have gone sideways:doh:
304207304206

[TTIT]

Thanks guys. I will try sunlight. And I will look at those links when I get back inside.
Here is a photo of the turned blank and a photo of the other end of the blank (hasn't been drilled or turned yet)

sorry uploaded from from my phone and they have gone sideways:doh:
I think you'll find that exposure to air over time will bring the colour back to the Purple Gidgee. It's always brown when freshly cut - just give it some time without a finish on it :;

[bassmansimon]

Thanks guys. I will try sunlight. And I will look at those links when I get back inside.
Here is a photo of the turned blank and a photo of the other end of the blank (hasn't been drilled or turned yet)

sorry uploaded from from my phone and they have gone sideways:doh:
304207304206

Looks extremely like purpleheart. Give it a day in the sunshine. Worst case scenario - nothing changes and you will still have a nice looking turned pen barrel. Best case scenario - purple surprise!

[Mobyturns]

Looks extremely like purpleheart. Give it a day in the sunshine. Worst case scenario - nothing changes and you will still have a nice looking turned pen barrel. Best case scenario - purple surprise!

I use a fair bit of Purple Heart and those photos look so much like PH to me and not purple gidgee, photos can lie though. The exposure to UV & air will turn both back to purple with time and no applied finish.

[Treecycle]

I think the exposure to sunlight is correct. I had some Purple Gidgee and turned a keyring out of it. Same problem occured that Ben has got, where it went brown. Unfortunately I thought that was what I was stuck with and put a coating of Shellawax on it. There was a small offcut which I left on the workbench uncoated, and it has now pretty much returned to the original colour. I will say, it was on the bench for probably at least a week before I noticed the colour change. The keyring is still the brownish colour even though I have put it beside the offcut in the hope it would change back.:((

[Beedeejay]

Well,

I tried a little bit of sunlight,

Problem was, I got sidetracked and forgot all about it:doh:,
it sat in the sun all day on a 35+ deg day, when I remembered it I found it had a nice big split in it:((,
so a quick phone call to my client and without all the details :- I told her that a different type of blank would be needed if she still wanted the pen on time, luckily she also loved my hairy oak stash,:D

But i do have a small bit of Gidgee left so I will play with trying to keep the colour for next time or at least try to get it back,

Cheers Ben

[Beedeejay]

I use a fair bit of Purple Heart and those photos look so much like PH to me and not purple gidgee, photos can lie though. The exposure to UV & air will turn both back to purple with time and no applied finish.

It does look like PH on the outer surface, (I had a small off it I compared it to) but the end grain difference is like chalk & cheese, I'll try to post a pic tomorrow,
and it is a lot harder then the last bit if PH I turned :cool:
Cheers Ben