Purple Heart

So...have any of you made a uke (or any uke parts) from Purple Heart? The manager at a local import place is a woodworker and noticed years ago that some of their products from around the world are shipped on pallets made of some pretty exotic species of wood. He breaks these down and sets them aside. Today I picked up some good sized pieces of purple heart. I usually use the wood he gives me for turnings and small boxes, but I'm wondering if this would be any good for bridges, fingerboards, peghead overlay, or even sides and backs. Any thoughts?

I just bought a tenor back and sides set from a luthier in Bend, Oregon. Kevin sells some of his stuff on Ebay under the name "rivdriftr". I've found his wood and work great. I believe his website is Blue Mountain Acoustics. He tells me that purpleheart is a wonderful tonewood.

Ken, i believe Tom Guy's cigar box ukes are sometimes made with purpleheart bridges? They look delightful as well.

http://www.bluegrassukes.com/UkulelesForSale.html

Here is a Spruce top Purple Heart pineapple made by Sonny D. No, not mine (but I wish).

Ahnko Honu said:

Here is a Spruce top Purple Heart pineapple made by Sonny D. No, not mine (but I wish).

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Wow! That looks great. Do you have any idea what kind of finish he has used on this? The purple really pops.

I like the look of purpleheart but suspect that because of its density it is best used in spruce top combo...

I've heard of finding exotic woods in pallets before, but I would be extremely surprised if you found purple heart in one. Not saying it isn't, just that I'm surprised.

As much as finds like this are cool, it is pallets from exotic lands that are the reason why so many of our domestic trees such as the American Chestnut are dying off faster than they can be reproduced. Those pallets typically are not screened for parasites. As soon as the bugs, fungi, or bacteria get near a tree they find tasty, it's all over. Seriously... Globalization and imports are causing this. Buy local.

~DB

I'm using it as a center laminate in one of my ukes, plan on using it for fingerboard and bridge as well. If you plan on leaving it out on "display when not in use, consider a finish with UV inhibitors. Purple heart turns brown with UV exposure. If you keep it in a case, probably not an issue.

My brother found a 6x6 6 feet long being used as crane dunnage. He asked the guy about it and he said just take it. We are still using it in projects

note that the beautiful colors of purpleheart and also redheart turn brown over time and exposure to UV light - so keep your ukes out of the sun and in their cases when not playing them if they have these lovely woods!

lindydanny said:

Those pallets typically are not screened for parasites. As soon as the bugs, fungi, or bacteria get near a tree they find tasty, it's all over. Seriously... Globalization and imports are causing this. Buy local.

~DB

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Yep...good point. I've struggled over these issues for years. I mostly work with locally grown wood that grew within a few miles of my house. The walnut in my first uke (shown in another post) is a good example of what I've found. But, the fingerboard and bridge on that same uke are epi that came from an imported pallet. I quit buying exotics years ago when concerns over deforestation were raised. I just decided that, rather than try to unravel all of the social, political, economic, and theological issues around that argument, I would just stick to locally grown woods. I found no reason to look beyond the beauty of the walnut, maple (including spalted), cherry, poplar, sycamore, and other native grown species right here in Kentucky. But...I also "re-purpose" wood. The spruce soundboard in my first hammer dulcimer came from an old piano that I pulled from a dumpster. The peg blocks in that dulcimer and psalteries that I make came from the maple legs of broken science lab tables that I bought at a school auction for a dollar a piece. So using this pallet wood seems to fit this "re-purposing" frame of mind. But as the saying goes, "No good deed (trying to keep this wood out of dumpsters) goes unpunished." You present some very valid reasons that this might not be a good practice.

Hmmmmm.....I rambled a bit here and probably came too close to hijacking my own post to address a topic (use of exotic woods) that I know has been coverd in other places on the forum.

We've used purpleheart for a bridged dulcimer fretboard and for the topwood on an electric bass with a figured alder body. I have played a soprano ukulele with a purpleheart body, fretboard and headstock veneer. It had a very nice bell-like sound, similar to maple, but honestly it's like that purple sweater - you can only wear it so often. I think the percussive sound has it's place but if I had the choice I would rather use maple. Or, as Pete suggests, use a spruce top on the purpleheart body.

As far as browning with age is concerned, we haven't seen this happen yet but our instruments are not that old. In any case it is well documented that the color darkens and loses (some of) it's brilliant purple color with age. Another thing is that freshly cut wood can look disappointingly grey but in our experience the wood will then turn purple with exposure to sunlight / ultraviolett light.

Another thing to watch out for is that the wood is quite "tough", which can lead to problems with tearout sometimes, especially with drilling and planing.

I've turned a couple bowls from Purple Heart and it was recommend in the woodturning forums to rub the surface of a Purple Heart bowl with the highest SPF sunblock before applying a finish coat to preserve the color from UV damage. These bowls were decorative so always remained on a shelf indoors so I never did try the sunblock but it was touted as a cure to browning.

Saw a Purple Heart Kanilea on ebay a few years back.

I built one once too. All I can say about it is that it sure was purple! Not really my thing.

The browning will happen with age if the wood is not treated somehow. Typically, if it is treated correctly with oils, varnishes, or other sealants it will set to a dark purple but not brown. Even the oil from your hands can do this. For example, I have a small piece of purple heart (about 3/4" x 1" x 3") on my desk at work that has been handled by a lot of people for nearly 5 years now. No treatments to it at all and it is still a deep purple.

~DB

LoMa said:

note that the beautiful colors of purpleheart and also redheart turn brown over time and exposure to UV light - so keep your ukes out of the sun and in their cases when not playing them if they have these lovely woods!

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I am surprised by that comment. Purple heart is used often in pool cues. I have a couple. A fellow I know that really knows his stuff says that if a purple heart cue starts to lose it's color that you should expose it to sunlight to bring back the intense red color.

I like purple heart a lot but it's lack of interesting grain would make it a non-starter for me for back and sides. Maybe fingerboard, bridge or peghead overlay.

I have seen mountain dulcimers of Purpleheart- I would not know if they sounded any different than walnut, but they looked a lot prettier

I have worked with purple heart along with making a Spruce top guitar from Pink Ivory (A bright pink coloured wood, which is glassy hard, and more dense than PH).

I had a dilemma when finishing this wood due to fear or it dulling in colour or, turning brown.

I did alot of research into the browning of woods and found it to be due to oxidisation (exposure to the air) as well as sunlight..

There were no UV protective finishes available to any supplier that I wrote to in the UK, and most said they had never been asked for one.. Although I don't think suncream will work, I think it will just make your PH oily and harder to finish.

Any PolyU finish, would be best due to it's thickness, which seems to have worked (2 years on) although any thick finish applied as soon after sanding as possible should work.

My tip is not to leave it for long after final sanding in order to preserve the colour!