Thread: Help Needed Finishing Purple Heart Wood

Turns out I'm extremely self critical of my work. I hadn't realized how much so until someone said to me that if I was looking for consistency then I should have used plastic instead. LOL. It's true. I had not only criticized my own work but Mother Nature herself. Plus the crazy part is that the customer loved it. That 'should' be the deciding factor right there.

It also turns out that Purple Heart does in fact still oxidize with clear finish added to it which is incredibly important. The smaller the surface area the quicker the oxidation so if you have a bigger project you'd be best off leaving it in the sun for longer. Don't forget to flip the object throughout the day to get full exposure.


As you can see from these next pictures it oxidized some more and looks much nicer. This is the look I was going for .


This is coloured wood without added colour.
Gotta LOVE colour!!!!

its listed! I added a picture of it from last night just to show the colour different in one night.

image.jpg image.jpg

Nice.

Hi Spiritwolfe,
Not much purpleheart in Australia and as a consequence a lot of people here won't have had much experience with it. Need comment from some of our members over your way.
Personally I love the colour and I have some small pieces in my horde but haven't used or finished any of it yet.

What is the item you have posted? I'm thinking hair pin/broache?? Love the look of it.
Cheers, Ian

Originally Posted by Nanigai

Hi Spiritwolfe,
Not much purpleheart in Australia and as a consequence a lot of people here won't have had much experience with it. Need comment from some of our members over your way.
Personally I love the colour and I have some small pieces in my horde but haven't used or finished any of it yet.

What is the item you have posted? I'm thinking hair pin/broache?? Love the look of it.
Cheers, Ian

Hi Ian,
We don't have any Purple Heart here in Canada either. It's an imported wood for us also.
It grows in central and South America .
Purpleheart | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwoods)

I wanted to add this mainly to show that optimum colour can definitely be achieved without the use of paints, stains or dyes and 'yes' you are right; It's a hair accessory. It's the smallest hair accessory we have ever made and it isn't for my hair. It's a custom order.


P.S. This item was not done completely by me. My significant other helped cut the wood.
We put our skills together to make women's accessories and they aren't all made from wood but about 50% of the items are.

How do I delete photos? Does anyone know? I can't seem to do it.

Go to "Settings". Under "My Settings " you will see "Miscellaneous" then "Attachments". You can delete the pictures from there.

BTW - lovely hair pin.

Originally Posted by Lappa

Go to "Settings". Under "My Settings " you will see "Miscellaneous" then "Attachments". You can delete the pictures from there.

BTW - lovely hair pin.

Thank you and thank you Lappa