Blood Wood

[Bmth Builder]

Hey I know Paduk is said to fade over time, but do any of the other more crazy coloured woods do the same? Purple Heart, bloody wood especially etc? Is all fading caused by UV?

Cheers

[avdekan]

I have a piece of bloodwood drying for over a year now and it doesn't seem to loose any color.

I know it's not a lot of time for wood but I take it as a good sign.

I'd like to hear a definite answer to that question too.

[ihocky2]

Bloodwood and purpleheart both turn brown over time. If kept out of UV light it is a slower process, but they do brown over time.

[HuntinDoug]

My experience with purpleheart is that it turns darker purple over time. I had some pieces that I let sit for several months...they were a nice dark purple. When I cut & sanded them, they turned to a lighter brownish purple. I asked my local wood guru about it, and he told me the purple color is enhanced with oxidation. When the wood is first cut, and the moisture content is high, it is more brown. Then, much like an apple turns brown, it quickly oxidizes to a purple color. If you seal it, then air can’t get to it to oxidize it further.

[Geo]

I've read in several places that bloodwood doesn't turn brown, but it just isn't true. I have a guitar and a bass, each with a bloodwood fingerboard. Now, maybe because these fingerboards aren't finished, that's why they turned brown. I don't know... but the color of the wood certainly changed.

[ihocky2]

I have a piece of purpleheart for a fretboard sitting in the garge that has gone to a brownish purple, but is still purple. The off cut from it sat out in the firewood bucket for a few months in the sun and it look like walnut. The bloodwood iused for af fretboard got a little brown, but was still red, over a few months inside, but when sanded went right back to the brighter red. I haven't had any of that laying outside yet to see what the sun does to it.