Is anyone familiar with any UV Protective Finish for Purpleheart or other woods that may help prevent as much color change ?? Thankssssss

Mike,

There are some Oil finishes that are designed for exterior use that UV inhibitors. Here s an example:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2007260/9...Oil--Quart.aspx

Or this:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2020362/2020362.aspx

Marine varnish usually has UV inhibitors.

My own experience with Purple Heart is that the UV exposure makes it more brilliantly purple. When it is freshly cut, it turns a pale lavender color, but after "aging" a bit (it happens very quickly) it gets darker and darker purple. When I go shopping for Purple Heart at my local wood source, the most amazingly purple pieces are the ones that have been on the rack for a long time. Can't imagine wanting to block out the UV...

Thanks G and everyone else. I have a piece and I had just heard that it tends to turn brown somewhat......Thats great ....I'll let nature do its thing and make it more beautiful !!! Thanks !!!!!!!!!!!!

I have used purple heart and other nicely colored woods and I've tried several different finishes, all of the finishes I've used had UV blockers in them but they didn't keep the wood from going through the color changes. I've even used a special two part epoxy that is water clear and I added the UV inhibitor myself, it still changed to the sweetest, deep purple in around a year, this purple heart ended up on one of my worm rods and is still (20 years later) nice and deep purple.

I don't think you can acutally stop a wood from becoming the color it desires to be.

After reading this original post I went and dug out some old purple heart flutes that I made about 12 years ago (without any UV protection). They were about the color of burgundy wine. No longer bright purple, but still a version of purple. It took them awhile to get there, and I don't know if they will remain that color or not (I'll check in another 10 years.

I have two hunks of purple heart somewhere that have never been touched since I purchased them back in 1983, I'll see if I can find them and report on the color. I have never seen any colored wood survive as it looks right after a nice sanding. I would bet I could find buyers if I could come up with a method of keeping that just sanded look on any nicely colored wood. But, so far everything I've tried doesn't work like that unfortunately.

On the other hand, I really like the aged look of purple heart and other colored woods. I have some brazilian rose wood (back and sides) that has been stored for quite a while now and it doesn't show much of the deep red/purplish with black stripes it really is underneath the oxidation layer. I am just about to the finish on the root flute, made of a white berry mullberry tree root. When I started out it was bright bright yellow wood, the color of the root flute I posted is what it has turned to as I work on it. The orange/Purple striped bark did manage to keep the purple so far and I sealed it with a coat of marine varnish to protect the fragile purple rings while I finish the flute up. the rest of the flute has no finish as yet. The pics are on the flute woods thread.