Gluing Purpleheart

[myxpykalix]

I had some pieces of purpleheart for a few years now that was dried when i got it but i notice that even when i cut it now it bleeds an oil from the saw cuts and i need to glue some pieces together and i wondered if i need to wipe that parts with anything before i try to glue them together?
Also is titebond ok to use?

[genek]

Jack you will need to wipe it clean with denatured alcohol if not the glue will not bond.. I generally soak small parts in it let them dry and just before glue up wipe down one more time with a damp cloth of alcohol.

Some of the woods that have oil are hard to get to glue. I HAVE USED TIGHTBOND 2 AND GORILLA GLUE. BOTH SEEMED TO WORK OK.

[knight_toolworks]

that's strange as purpleheart is not an oily wood. I have used thousands of bf and no oil. but there are several species called purpleheart and I have found three of them. even oily woods don't usually have oil come to the surface like that right after cutting. A fresh cut is the best way to deal with oily woods. do a test with the yellow glue and see how strong the joint is.

[myxpykalix]

I will make a cut and take a pic for reference, as it is a little weird but i don't cut much exotic woods.:confused:

[dlcw]

I'm with Steve on this one. I've also used thousands of BF of purpleheart and have never had an oily piece. I'm wondering if it is another wood other then purpleheart but looks like it.

As far as glue on oily woods, I clean the mating glue surfaces with a rag lightly soaked in acetone. I've used yellow, white, poly and plastic resin glues, all with excellent results. You must clean it first though.

[rcnewcomb]

If you do need to glue oily exotics I've found that Smith All Wood Epoxy (http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Adhesives&NameProdHeader=Smith+All+Wood+Epoxy) works quite well.

[billp]

I agree with Randall, use epoxy for oily, or tight grained exotics. Another benefit of the process is that once you have encapsulated the wood in epoxy you can them bond it to dis-similar materials as well (in this case Angelique/Purple heart to carbon fiber)

[Ajcoholic]

Purple heart is not oily - I concur. Never had a piece that was oily...

But, for gluing oily woods, Titebond III seems to work really well for me (for rosewoods, pau ferro, cocobolo, etc)

AJC

[knight_toolworks]

Purple heart is not oily - I concur. Never had a piece that was oily...

But, for gluing oily woods, Titebond III seems to work really well for me (for rosewoods, pau ferro, cocobolo, etc)

AJC
But there are about 20 or so species that are called purpleheart so you never know. I have found 3 and they are all different in density and color and grain but all not oily.

[Ajcoholic]

But there are about 20 or so species that are called purpleheart so you never know. I have found 3 and they are all different in density and color and grain but all not oily.

Up here, all the lumber wholesalers sell the same "purple heart". It is very dense, stringy grain like hickory, and looks gray when cut, turns purple shortly after exposure to air. It is horrible stuff to get slivers from, as rough cut it is like handling a cactus :)

AJC

[michael_schwartz]

Take some maple and dye it with purple trans tint and it will actually stay purple :rolleyes: Of course I am saying this a bit sarcastically, since there are appropriate times to use purple heart.

[myxpykalix]

The last time i cut this same purpleheat it "bled like a stuck pig" but today when i went to cut it and take a picture it was as dry as a bone. However it was close to the end when i go to cut it in the center it might be different.

[knight_toolworks]

Take some maple and dye it with purple trans tint and it will actually stay purple :rolleyes: Of course I am saying this a bit sarcastically, since there are appropriate times to use purple heart.
See that depends on the species. Most of it people use it tends not to stay purple it turns brown when cut then purple then fades to brown. the stuff I use turns a light purple when cut then deep purple and stays that way.

[michael_schwartz]

the selection I have access too locally is limited to retail, and they don't really know much about what they are selling when it comes to exotics, other than the name.

If you know of any botanical names to look for or any reputable places that sell the better stuff online, I am curious.

[knight_toolworks]

the selection I have access too locally is limited to retail, and they don't really know much about what they are selling when it comes to exotics, other than the name.

If you know of any botanical names to look for or any reputable places that sell the better stuff online, I am curious.
Few know the differences in purpleheart. I have found all three types locall in three different stores. one was the real oddball it really had a bad smell was even more dense then I am used too and it had curl in it. my local store has the stay purple type I have used for 20 years I can give you their info it is in portland or.

[gerryv]

Sounds like you might have bloodwood (satine).

[frank134]

I have used a lot of purpleheart wood. I use elmer,s yellow glue. I was told the purplrwood contains silica.





Purpleheart Wood
Uses:
http://www.thewoodbox.com/images/woodimages/purpleheart.jpgWhat possibly could be the uses for a purple-coloured wood? Billiard cue butts, gym equipment and chemical vats, to name a few. This wood has a wide variety of craft uses from the practical to the sublime. It is sliced for decorative veneers and used in cabinetry and furniture, sculpture, turnery and marquetry and has a variety of specialty uses that includes diving boards, skis or filter press frames.
Purple heart wood is also used to make parquet and traditional flooring, tool handles and even for marine & bridge building. Your imagination is the only limitation.
The Tree: Leguminosae Family
Includes 20 species of Peltogyne, and has been called amaranth, violetwood, tananeo and saka depending on what country you are visiting.
Found in Central and South America, this exotic wood is a worldwide favorite. Tall and large trees grow abundantly, sometimes reaching a diameter of five feet with clear knot free log lengths typical. We have customers that own a saw mill in Mexico, and tell us that their neighbours frequently use it for exterior steps because it is very resistant to attack by fungi and dry-wood termites
Wood Description:
Purpleheart has a creamy white/gray sapwood but like its name suggests, the heartwood is a bright, striking purple when freshly cut, darkening into a deeper purple with age. It has a medium to fine texture with a luster that ranges from medium to high; its grain is usually straight but can be wavy or irregular. Purpleheart has high bending and crushing strength and stiffness with medium resistance to shock loads. A great feature when used as truck decking.
Weight: 50-70 lbs/cuft.:
a very broad range of weight depending on origin of lumber.
Machining:
Purpleheart has a moderate to severe blunting effect on tools; sharp, high speed steel knives therefore are recommended as are 15 degree cutting angles. It can be somewhat difficult to work with using either hand or machine tools.
Some wood seems to be relatively soft textured and easy to cut and other wood has been so hard it burns all your tools, so there is a high degree of variability in cutting characteristics, depending on the piece of wood or possibly the exact species of Peltogyne that you received. Watch particularly carefully the grain direction on planing any wood that shows an interlocking grain. It has a nasty habit of tearing out when you least expect it.
Purpleheart is rated moderate for steam bending if you read the text books but I'm afraid I've not tested it personnally.
Pre-drilling purple heart wood is always recommended. I find the wood quite brittle especially if drilling close to the end of a board. It is likely to split so tighten screws with caution.
It does rate highly for turnery though and with sharp chisels can come to a beautiful sheen. Watch for burning while routing as it is pretty easy to burn if your cutter is dull or you're going too slow. Burn marks are very difficult to remove from purpleheart.

[Xray]

I cut a lot of PH, just cut this one yesterday.
Never have seen it "oily", maybe yours has soaked up some kind of contaminant, and is still bleeding it out.
I have cuts over a year old that still look vividly purple, but who knows what hue they may take over the years.
I got a nasty, man sized PH sliver last time I was at the lumberyard, probably went half an inch into my palm, and another inch was sticking out. Out of reflex I yanked it out quick, on an angle which broke it off with most of it still in my palm. Took my daughter about half an hour to dig it out.

[myxpykalix]

This stuff was cut into decking boards and the guy had it sitting out in the sun when i bought it. I dug down to the middle of the pile where it was not exposed to the sun because those boards on top had turned brown. I'll go out tomorrow and get a picture.

[billp]

Back in the mid 80's I was living in Key West at a marina, and one day a local worker dropped a tool as he was walking out onto the dock. As he bent down to pick up the tool he noticed that it had chipped off a piece of the dock planking and when he took a closer look at it he noticed it was a dark, purple color where the wood had chipped. SO he did some digging with a pocket knife and sure enough he found that the entire set of docks at the Singleton shrimp house had been made years earlier from Purple heart! Needless to say by the next morning they had gone out and bought a new planer and were ripping off the old planks (to replace them with some PT yellow pine....), planing them down, and selling blanks, boards, and lumber from the marina office ! The boards were apparently SO cheap in those days that they used them as deck cargo, hatch boards, etc. and when they got to Key West they dumped them onto the piers (under trawls of shrimp) and they eventually became the planking for the docks, hundreds of feet long...

[bleeth]

Heavy timbers of purple heart have been the material of choice for replacing old Oak frames that are shot on many a wooden boat for some time now due to the water/rot resistance. In the right place it's not really that expensive. When you go to the little specialty stores or "custom" hardwood lumber retailers it is priced high but large scantling lumber can be had for a (relatively) good price.

As far as gluing it goes, I made a jewelry box for my wife out of it (nothing fancy-just mitered corners-I let the wood itself tell the story) over 20 years ago and used Titebond (there was no 2 or 3 then) and finished it with teak oil and it still looks new.

[knight_toolworks]

here purpleheart costs less then most American woods. It used to be 4.50 a bf for 8/4

[kenakabrowncom]

I go through a bunch of purple heart and also have not seen it oily... hard... YES, bad splintering YES, painful splinters... YES...

I use Titebond 3 exclusively... never anything else and never have issues with bonding. I do cutting boards and never have any issues with glue failure.