AXofBSR Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 I just bought some purpleheart and I'm going to be building a Neck-Thru guitar with a Carvin neck... I was wondering what kind of finish I should use on the Purpleheart. I want something slightly darker to bring out the color and give it a nice glossy finish... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 I just bought some purpleheart and I'm going to be building a Neck-Thru guitar with a Carvin neck... I was wondering what kind of finish I should use on the Purpleheart. I want something slightly darker to bring out the color and give it a nice glossy finish... YOU do realize that purple heart turns brown with age? mk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXofBSR Posted March 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 I just bought some purpleheart and I'm going to be building a Neck-Thru guitar with a Carvin neck... I was wondering what kind of finish I should use on the Purpleheart. I want something slightly darker to bring out the color and give it a nice glossy finish... YOU do realize that purple heart turns brown with age? mk From what I've read, If you let it cure long enough and then finish it correctly, the color will hold... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Not s'much. Seems to depend on the piece of purpleheart; some turns brown, some stays very purple, even unfinished. There's a bright purple board at my local wood yard (sample piece, not for sale), unfinished, that's still fantastically purple. And then there's another (also sample) that's very brown indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Sounds like you could be SOOL!! http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readart...icles_525.shtml Opinion is that it won't stay purple unless you refinish it every once in a while, or chemically treat it. I prefer it for it's mechanical stability in neck laminations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXofBSR Posted March 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Well... I bought it for it's tonal qualities... It's hard to find something that sounds the same way it does for the same price... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Purpleheart seems quite oily/waxy so all i've ever done on it before glueing is to wipe it down with acetone to remove surface oils which might cause adhesion problems. I'd be tempted to grain fill it with epoxy or black CA (did a test on mahogany today - awesome) sand and then finish with whatever you want. Anyone got any further info on the oil content of PH? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Just a little food for thought: concensus on the MIMF (among other places) on gluing cocobolo - oily wood by definition - is that failures are more likely when wiping than when just planing and going straight to glue-up. Several members reported joint failures after wiping that went away when they stopped wiping away resins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Really! Wow, that goes against everything i've been taught but hell - whatever makes my joins better in the long run :-D I'll try my next tenon (second Thunderbird!) without wiping and see how it goes.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXofBSR Posted March 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 I read somewhere that if you put a coat of ArmorAll on the wood before you finish it that it will retain it's color... Also, I have no problem with refinishing once or twice a year... maybe even once a month if really necessary... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 Acetone will help get the board less oily on the surface it is wiped on. But one will need to remove the chemical from the board. After leaving some Acetone in Padauk, I realized that it leaves a really white look to the board. So that leads me to believe that this is what effects the gluing issues. Personally, I have never had an issue gluing Cocobolo, Wenge, or Purpleheart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 I can't see how acetone (being a high volatile hydrocarbon) would "stay" in the wood unless it was under pressure or kept from volatilising to the atmosphere. In my opinion, the chances are that the whiteness is from the padauk's natural oils being leeched out of the wood by the acetone onto the rag or whatever was used with wipe the wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 After leaving some Acetone in Padauk.. No wiping here, I left it in to sit to test it out. More ideas for me to think on, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Interesting....I hope somebody more knowledgable than myself can shed some light on this, more because out of interest than anything else! As far as finishing PH goes (as per the original question!) a lot of stock seems to be put into "UV resistant" finishes, although I don't think these will be a guaranteed purple-forever solution. I personally would use Tru-oil to seal the pores, plus it would gloss up the wood nicely. For clear finishes, I would grain fill the wood black first to highlight the pore structure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spazzyone Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 I read somewhere that if you put a coat of ArmorAll on the wood before you finish it that it will retain it's color... Also, I have no problem with refinishing once or twice a year... maybe even once a month if really necessary... armour all is a sure bet to ruin your guitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuntinDoug Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 I read somewhere that if you put a coat of ArmorAll on the wood before you finish it that it will retain it's color... Also, I have no problem with refinishing once or twice a year... maybe even once a month if really necessary... armour all is a sure bet to ruin your guitars I agree! Armour all is a bad idea. From what I understand, it is liquid silicone. I used to to pinstriping & custom paint work on cars & bikes. Customers would use it on thier tires, and sometimes even on the car body itself. Paint will not stick to a surface with armour all on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Ive never had a hard time with purpleheart Glueups or color loss I love purpleheart, It puts out great Tone I know there is a few people on this forum that Hate the stuff (wes for one ) But thats just personal preference Im working with some Purpleheart right now for an 8-string Im building and as normal all is going well, there are some things to watch out for! purplehear is Very hard on tools and Blades, also sanding can be a real pain in the back side but all in all its great stuff !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXofBSR Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Ive never had a hard time with purpleheart Glueups or color loss I love purpleheart, It puts out great Tone I know there is a few people on this forum that Hate the stuff (wes for one ) But thats just personal preference Im working with some Purpleheart right now for an 8-string Im building and as normal all is going well, there are some things to watch out for! purplehear is Very hard on tools and Blades, also sanding can be a real pain in the back side but all in all its great stuff !!METAL MATT!! What kind of finish do you use? Somebody said something about UV resistant... would that work? Also the reason it's so bad on blades and such is because of it's density which is the same reason that it sounds so great... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Ive never had a hard time with purpleheart Glueups or color loss I love purpleheart, It puts out great Tone I know there is a few people on this forum that Hate the stuff (wes for one ) But thats just personal preference Im working with some Purpleheart right now for an 8-string Im building and as normal all is going well, there are some things to watch out for! purplehear is Very hard on tools and Blades, also sanding can be a real pain in the back side but all in all its great stuff !!METAL MATT!! Totally....and any tearout you get is legendary! Six days in the bandsaw, two days on the router table and the rest of the year being sanded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MzI Posted April 8, 2007 Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 From my past experience, glue purple heart as normal, dont wipe it with anything. Titebond 1 works great and Ive never had any problems with joints coming undone. As far as finish and grain filling: grain fill with epoxy, dont bother staining, and dont use minwax poly. One guitar I made I sprayed with component poly and its still great, nice bright purple and all. The other guitar I have I wiped on Minwax Gloss poly and its turning brown and the finish is cracking from shrinking. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXofBSR Posted April 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 (edited) From my past experience, glue purple heart as normal, dont wipe it with anything. Titebond 1 works great and Ive never had any problems with joints coming undone. As far as finish and grain filling: grain fill with epoxy, dont bother staining, and dont use minwax poly. One guitar I made I sprayed with component poly and its still great, nice bright purple and all. The other guitar I have I wiped on Minwax Gloss poly and its turning brown and the finish is cracking from shrinking. Mike What kind of epoxy? I've worked with several types and I don't know which one to use with wood? Also do you have a brand name on that component poly? Edited April 24, 2007 by AXofBSR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXofBSR Posted April 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 I've decided to use a satin finish NC Lacquer after I grainfill... I found a good tutorial on filling with epoxy... Only thing is, the only finishes I can find are Minwax which you said not to you... btw, are all Lacquers NC? Will any lacquer work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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