Not sure about that pen exactly, but I just turned a purple heart I did this treatment to 3 years ago, and is was still purple. It did seem lighter, but I think that was a variance in species of purple heart tree it came from. I r noticed some species of purple heart get darker than others. The CA was what I used to glue the tubes into the blank. It held up in the heat, but the wood cracked.
Thanks for the reply. I don't know much about turning. I'm actually very new to woodworking in general. But I have several pieces of purple heart that I'm going to use in a serving board and cutting board, and I want to try this heat treatment in the oven.
@TheTacticalPainter of course TH-cam won't let me post a link to a photo from my Google photos despite TH-cam being owned by Google 🙄 So I'm not sure how I can even share it. But anyway, I ended up baking 1 piece of each: purple heart, yellow heart, and Osage orange. The Osage didn't really change much. Purple and yellow heart both got darker, though the yellow kinda just looks roasted. Unfortunately the purple heart twisted pretty bad despite being KD, but I was still able to get a few strips out of it. I have the non baked versions in this same board as well. Made for a nice color gradient.
@@rfehr613 if you have Instagram, feel free to find me, I'm on there under Soots Crafting as well. Never thought to try yellow heart. Great experiment, keep up the good work! Sorry to hear about the warping, this happens to me from time to time too, especially when I dry Maple before stabilizing. It gets very twisty sometimes.
Hey man I like that ! I had used my heat gun to get the purple back but even it needed to be done with care or you could get uneven results... though it was more even spread than with a torch. The toaster oven makes easy work of it..and I happen to have one I'm no longer using so out to the shop it goes tomorrow. I ordered me a few large blocks of Hawaiian koa...excited to give it a try ! A couple of the blocks have some really pretty curl. They're definitely cash proud of some of that stuff. You know, not blowing smoke here just being honest... I really don't get it that you dont have tons more subscribers. ..your videos are very educational ..and ofcourse entertaining, but for me I am looking more for the educational aspect of pen turning since I'm new to it and you certainly deliver that. Thank you for making the time to do them.
Thank you for the compliment. I'm not to sure how the whole gaining subscriber thing goes. The nice things about the ones I have is that they're organic and not generated from weird sources. I'm glad that you find my videos educational, that's what I started out through to do. I have a few that are going to be more artistic soon too that I'm excited for. Mostly for pens that I've done before. I'm glad you like the vids, let me know if there's anything you'd like to see, and I'll see what I can do. Glad to hear about the toaster oven, it really is the easiest thing ever. Toss them in the oven while working on other things and it does the work for you, total time saver. Take care and happy turning 😀
I'm wondering if putting the wood in a microwave oven might work. As a few years have passed since you posted this video, have you tried microwaving purple heart?
I doubt it, a microwave works by vibrating water molecules and causing them to heat up. That might work to dry it out, but I don't think it would heat it up enough to turn it deep purple consistently throughout the blank. I would be concerned about cracking to hearing the water up from within the wood like that.
I just got a torch to do similar things. In your attempts to bring out the purple, even if unsuccessful with the torch, were your bushings affected at all?
That's a good question, I was concerned with this as well. I inspected the bushings with a caliper and they weren't effected. I've turned many pens with these same bushings since and have had no issues. The bushings are made of mild steel and aren't heat treated, so it shouldn't do much. I would avoid turning them blue or amber color as there's no telling what tempering them may do to the bushing if accidentally knicked with a gouge at full turning speed.
Attempt #3 really is the best choice for an even deep purple color throughout the entire blank. If doing a larger piece, like a bottle stopper, or bowl, just leave it in the oven longer.
@@TheTacticalPainter alright i saw a vide o in my recomendation that showed a guy baking his wood at different temperatures and the best he got was 350 for 1 hour to get a really deep and vibrant purple without burning or charing it. was pretty neat. im making a chef knife for my old manager at the restraunt i use to work at and thought purple heart would be amazing for the handle.
That sounds awesome, I wouldn't go any hotter than 350°F, you today scorching the wood. 300°F works really well and you don't need very long. Just be sure to do it before carving or shaping the wood cause it will shrink during this process.
Yes, but that's after you turn it, I was looking for a faster guaranteed approach. I'm in Oregon, so 10 out of 12 months of the year, we have no sun. This method works every time, and I like repeatable results that I can do in any condition.
It's been 5 years. How does the color look now?
And the part about ca glue... what was that in reference to? Did you seal the end grain with ca glue?
Not sure about that pen exactly, but I just turned a purple heart I did this treatment to 3 years ago, and is was still purple. It did seem lighter, but I think that was a variance in species of purple heart tree it came from. I r noticed some species of purple heart get darker than others.
The CA was what I used to glue the tubes into the blank. It held up in the heat, but the wood cracked.
Thanks for the reply. I don't know much about turning. I'm actually very new to woodworking in general. But I have several pieces of purple heart that I'm going to use in a serving board and cutting board, and I want to try this heat treatment in the oven.
@rfehr613 would love to see the results, welcome to the addiction friend 😁
@TheTacticalPainter of course TH-cam won't let me post a link to a photo from my Google photos despite TH-cam being owned by Google 🙄 So I'm not sure how I can even share it.
But anyway, I ended up baking 1 piece of each: purple heart, yellow heart, and Osage orange. The Osage didn't really change much. Purple and yellow heart both got darker, though the yellow kinda just looks roasted. Unfortunately the purple heart twisted pretty bad despite being KD, but I was still able to get a few strips out of it. I have the non baked versions in this same board as well. Made for a nice color gradient.
@@rfehr613 if you have Instagram, feel free to find me, I'm on there under Soots Crafting as well. Never thought to try yellow heart. Great experiment, keep up the good work! Sorry to hear about the warping, this happens to me from time to time too, especially when I dry Maple before stabilizing. It gets very twisty sometimes.
Hey man I like that ! I had used my heat gun to get the purple back but even it needed to be done with care or you could get uneven results... though it was more even spread than with a torch. The toaster oven makes easy work of it..and I happen to have one I'm no longer using so out to the shop it goes tomorrow.
I ordered me a few large blocks of Hawaiian koa...excited to give it a try ! A couple of the blocks have some really pretty curl. They're definitely cash proud of some of that stuff.
You know, not blowing smoke here just being honest... I really don't get it that you dont have tons more subscribers. ..your videos are very educational ..and ofcourse entertaining, but for me I am looking more for the educational aspect of pen turning since I'm new to it and you certainly deliver that. Thank you for making the time to do them.
Thank you for the compliment. I'm not to sure how the whole gaining subscriber thing goes. The nice things about the ones I have is that they're organic and not generated from weird sources. I'm glad that you find my videos educational, that's what I started out through to do. I have a few that are going to be more artistic soon too that I'm excited for. Mostly for pens that I've done before. I'm glad you like the vids, let me know if there's anything you'd like to see, and I'll see what I can do.
Glad to hear about the toaster oven, it really is the easiest thing ever. Toss them in the oven while working on other things and it does the work for you, total time saver.
Take care and happy turning 😀
I'm wondering if putting the wood in a microwave oven might work. As a few years have passed since you posted this video, have you tried microwaving purple heart?
I doubt it, a microwave works by vibrating water molecules and causing them to heat up. That might work to dry it out, but I don't think it would heat it up enough to turn it deep purple consistently throughout the blank. I would be concerned about cracking to hearing the water up from within the wood like that.
I just got a torch to do similar things. In your attempts to bring out the purple, even if unsuccessful with the torch, were your bushings affected at all?
That's a good question, I was concerned with this as well. I inspected the bushings with a caliper and they weren't effected. I've turned many pens with these same bushings since and have had no issues. The bushings are made of mild steel and aren't heat treated, so it shouldn't do much. I would avoid turning them blue or amber color as there's no telling what tempering them may do to the bushing if accidentally knicked with a gouge at full turning speed.
Attempt #3 really is the best choice for an even deep purple color throughout the entire blank. If doing a larger piece, like a bottle stopper, or bowl, just leave it in the oven longer.
can i jus put the wood in a spare oven at like 200 for x amount of time?
You could certainly try that. I have done it at lower heats and didn't get as good of results.
@@TheTacticalPainter alright i saw a vide o in my recomendation that showed a guy baking his wood at different temperatures and the best he got was 350 for 1 hour to get a really deep and vibrant purple without burning or charing it. was pretty neat. im making a chef knife for my old manager at the restraunt i use to work at and thought purple heart would be amazing for the handle.
That sounds awesome, I wouldn't go any hotter than 350°F, you today scorching the wood. 300°F works really well and you don't need very long. Just be sure to do it before carving or shaping the wood cause it will shrink during this process.
45-60 min at 350 in the oven. Works.
let it sit out in the sun for a couple hours. works everytime
Yes, but that's after you turn it, I was looking for a faster guaranteed approach. I'm in Oregon, so 10 out of 12 months of the year, we have no sun. This method works every time, and I like repeatable results that I can do in any condition.
It'll turn back brown eventually. Evidently the oven trick is the only way to keep it purple