Wood Color

[Slyotter]

I LOVE Kingwood, the smell and wonderful color of the shavings when I drill/turn. But shortly after finishing (few days/weeks) it turns brown. Is there anything I can do to prevent this change? OR to enhance the color (without dyes) to make it POP out more?


Also I have made a few purpleheart pens that were very dark. This prompted several commissions but every blank I have bought recently is very light pink after completion. I was told to set the pens in the sun for a while. But the one I did that (it has been in a window (screen side to prevent the glass from filtering the light), and it "might" have darkened a little bit.

Last, question. I read a post that mentioned useing a blacklight on Cherry to darken it. Does this work on any other woods? And was this supposed to be a UV light instead or an actual black light as for Halloween? No I didn't post to ask on that forum. Unfortunately I cannot remember which one I was reading. There is so much to read here now that I was pointed to the site that I am in overload.

Thanks in advance for the help on this!:biggrin:

Jerry

Oh and if anyone has heard of any penturning/turning groups in Peru please pass that info along to. I will be down there in a few months for a few years. I CANNOT WAIT as there are so many great woods comming from there!!!!:bananen_smilies051:

 

[wdcav1952]

Jerry,

Boiled Linseed Oil, commonly called BLO here will "pop" grain on many woods. I have not used it on Kingwood, however, so test it on a scrap piece first.

Purpleheart will darken if you create frictional heat to it. I have used a piece of flannel on the surface of the wood after final sanding to darken purpleheart. Don't overheat it as that could predispose the wood to cracking.

Finally, I have found lacquer to be the best finish in my hands to prevent loss of color to wood. It certainly takes longer, but is worth the effort IMHO.

Make us all jealous with lots of photos of South American wood when you get to Peru!

 

[TellicoTurning]

Jerry,
If you don't find wood turning group in Peru, good opportunity to start a local chapter of the IAP..

Only been to Peru once.. two days in Lima and two days in Cajamarca. I liked Cajamarca better than Lima... very historic city.. other than not being able to talk to anyone, since very few spoke any English, had a grand time. I was there visiting a client company that runs a gold mine up on top of the mountains around Cajamarca. I will say this, a flatlander from Houston had a hard time breathing there.. the town is at 10,000 feet and the mine was at 14,500. One and only time to ever drink Coco tea, but it helped tremendously.

 

[NewLondon88]

Last, question. I read a post that mentioned useing a blacklight on Cherry to darken it. Does this work on any other woods? And was this supposed to be a UV light instead or an actual black light as for Halloween? No I didn't post to ask on that forum. Unfortunately I cannot remember which one I was reading.

That might have been me, I use a blacklight on cherry only because I can
never be around to put it in the sunlight at the right time. I tried putting it
in the windshield of the car, but the windshield has a UV blocker.

Cherry is photoreactive, so it happens fairly quickly. But there are other
woods that will change color too. Not as fast, and not as dramatic.

and yes, I use the "Halloween" black light! :biggrin: perfect for a pen, I just set
it down beside the lamp and leave it.

 

[Slyotter]

Update to colors

Got a few pens done (sorry sold most of them before I moved to Peru, so I will get pictures when I can of what I have left) that I tried a couple things we have talked about.

Kingwood "Bleeds" it's color and I do mean BLEEEEDS!! I had a couple blanks that were starting to crack. Tried MiniWax wood hardener on them along with some punky KOA. My KOA now has a slight blueish tint (have not done more then scratch the surface to see if it penetrated, yes it did), as the kingwood IMMEDIATELY let out blue/purple color when the hardener hit it. Have some BL Maple that was colored to but no penetration. Still haven't tried the BLO, nor armorall to keep the blue color.

As for useing a black light. NewLondon88, you don't need to find a special light for that. Just a flouresenct light will work. I was volunteering at the local base woodshop, helping wounded servicemen learn a new skill, and a demo pen I did in purpleheart turned a DEEP dark purple from the light pink of fresh turning, while sitting in the display case. Had to turn the pen to get an even color..... Hmmm that might be interesting to see what could be done, by blocking the light and finding a way to prevent color change afterwards......Anyways, after a week I had the color I wanted, so wear your sunglasses at work if you have flourecent lights , as they really do have quite a bit of UV.

Jerry