Deepening The Colour Of Purpleheart

[Prostheta]

I have a build which is near to completion which is ready to be clearcoated, and I am considering treating the purpleheart in the build with weak muriatic/hydrochloric acid to further deepen the colouration. What I would like to know however, is what effect this will have on the other woods of the build or other woods in general, and how exactly does muriatic acid deepen the colour of purpleheart?

Specifically, this build is a purpleheart neck-through eight-string with flamed English ash wings and headcap.

Thanks all.

[Mattia]

I dont know for sure, but I believe they work by oxidizing tannings in the wood - some woods have lots, some less, so you will need to test and find out what happens to the other woods...

[Prostheta]

I'm planning to carry it out on the scrap of course, although I think a greater understanding of what to expect before testing helps a great deal. I presume that purpleheart has a lot of tannin content, so in that case i'll do a bit of digging as to which woods (such as ash) have higher tannin content.

Thanks Mattia. I'll post whatever additional info I find on tannin content here for reference.

[Prostheta]

"Potassium Dichromate and Ammonia react with tannin to yield rich wood tones" source

"Tannin is a natural extractive of Cedar, Redwood and most other dark woods. It migrates to the surface of the wood when water is present and leaves an ink-like, coffee colored stain or overall darkness on the wood after the water evaporates." source

Edited May 2, 2008 by Prostheta