Thread: How to get purpleheart gidgee colouring back?

Joe, if Purpleheart 'Gidgee' is similar to normal Purpleheart, the colour will return after some time in the air. I've been working with Purpleheart a bit lately and went through the same worry the first time I machined the surface.

Not sure about the scratching. ROS? I have a roll of 240g that I use on my drum sander when necessary to remove scratches, but have to be careful because the finer paper heats up a lot.

Good luck with it.

It will go purple if you expose it to sunlight.

Originally Posted by chrisb691

It will go purple if you expose it to sunlight.

Even indirect UV seems to work fine, though maybe a little slower - mine was in the shade and still coloured back up in less than a day.

This is sounding very hopeful, thanks for your replies. Actually, it looks much better today than what it did at 4pm yesterday, so have put it out in the sun, turning it over frequently in case the heat of the severe tropical sun caused more cracks to appear. In the end I put it next to the pool under the shade of the shade cloth.. here's hoping.

My next main problem is removing the scratches from the drum sander. Any suggestions please? I have included some pics below:

Gidgee_1.jpg
Underside side of the board. The outer deep purple colour was fairly uniform throughout this coloured area of the board originally.


Gidgee_5.jpg

Top side of the board. You can see the scratches from the drum sander here. I put the board at an angle to the drum
100grit on a ROS will not remove them



Gidgee_3.jpg
This shows the 4mm Domino tenon that will stop the large crack from expanding. Filled with epoxy mixed with black powder


Gidgee_4.jpg
Top side showing 3 long thin cracks filled with Timbermate - could not quite match the colour of the timber



Gidgee_2.jpg

Scratches more noticeable here


Gidgee_6.jpg
Scratches at the other end of the top surface


Gidgee_7.jpg
Underside of the board, originally deep purple

All I can think of is sanding, sanding, sanding.

The only thing that will do it is cutting back below the scratches, one way or another.

How quickly can you get your hands on a finer grit, (or grits), for the drum sander? After 60g, and those scratches, ideally 100g, then 150/180, followed by 240 on the ROS would do it. (Each grit about 1.5 times the previous one.)

Sorry I can't be of more help. Chris or someone else might have a better idea.

Edit: You could try a freshly-burred cabinet scraper if you have one. Might be a slow process, but it would leave a nice surface.

I find, too, that passing timber through the drum sander many times. without lowering the drum between passes, will clean it up a reasonable amount.

Thanks Steve, yes, lots of sanding seems to be the answer, but am worried the purple colour will disappear again. Will soon find out

Originally Posted by Dengue

Thanks Steve, yes, lots of sanding seems to be the answer, but am worried the purple colour will disappear again. Will soon find out

The purple WILL disappear again with sanding, but will come back with uv exposure.

Sounds like you're on top of it now, Joe.
You'll have to show it to us in the finished piece when done. I love that heartwood/sapwood contrast.

I agree the purple will return after a little while.

One thing to note when working with purple heart do not finish it straight after sanding.

Many thanks to all you guys for your help and support, feeling a lot more confident in dealing with this amazing timber - never heard of a timber whose colour restores after sanding by UV exposure. Will post pics of the finished board

Will also try scraping, but it is pretty tough timber, so not very hopeful

Originally Posted by Dengue

Will also try scraping, but it is pretty tough timber, so not very hopeful

The tougher the timber the better it scrapes.
Do you have a scraper plane?

Thanks Tt, that is great news. I have a Veritas cabinet scraper because of arthritic thumb joints, so will tune up a couple of blades and give it a go - looking forward to this, but will wait a few more days until the colour is fully restored by sunlight ( not quite direct, too severe)

Well, my first go at serious scraping - it was great, with very fine long shavings straight off the new blade fitted to the cabinet scraper. They looked so beautiful I posted photos of them twice below

The Veritas scraper blades have a 45 degree bevel, but the instruction book that came with it recommended that you don't need to burnish and create a hook initially as it would be too aggressive.

The scratch marks have disappeared, and the scraped purple surface was glass smooth. Took care to scrape with the grain, starting in the centre, and not to do too much. Most of the scraping was done pulling the blade towards me from the centre, as I had toggle clamped the far end of the board.

The remaining scratch marks are actually full length minute hairline cracks that first showed up when I wet the board with White Spirits. Will wet the board again tomorrow and show some pics - not sure how to finish with these cracks.

Will then leave this board out under the patio to get some fresh air and light, ocassionally putting it out in direct sunlight for a few days to get the deep colouring back.

Thanks for the scraping suggestion. The scraper was a group birthday pressy from the kids last March, but have not had the need to use it, and had actually forgotten about it.

Purple Gidgee_01.jpg



Purple Gidgee_02.jpg
Love these shavings - beautiful colour



Purple Gidgee_03.jpg
You can see the large epoxied crack on the right


Purple Gidgee_04.jpg
Close up of the scraped surface



Purple Gidgee_05.jpg

Shavings again