Now You See It, Now You Dont (color changes in tropical woods)

[Cushing H.]

I was at Woodcraft today, and spotted a rather nice piece of Padauk - 2" thick, reasonably finely figured, crack that I could deal with while cutting out blocks. I was sorely tempted ... but in doing a quick search came across a thread of a couple years ago tallking about how Padauk (which starts as a nice rich reddish color) ultimately darkens to a brown (though this might take several years).

this got me thinking in general about the viability/ concerns of woods potentially used for handles, which start out with cool colors, but then darken to just-plain-brown. Padauk being an example, purpleheart being another. What do people here think - if Padauk (and woods that behave similarly) take maybe 10 years to darken to a brown, but have kind of nice figure .... is it reasonable to use them .... or should they be, if not avoided, used .... cautiously. (this was a really nicely sized piece of wood that I could have easily cut down to blocks and scales.......)

I guess a related question (to which I have no idea of the answer) is - does impregnation/stabilization of these woods if not stop, significantly slow down that color change to a blah-brown..... ???????

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Padauk, purpleheart, yellowheart, Osage orange, and a few others will darken.

Some folks like these woods, some don't.
Some folks say it never changed on them, others say it happened fairly fast.
Some folks say a finish will stop the change, others say it won't.
Some folks say it is oxygen that causes the change, others say it is UV.

Type these wood names ( one at a time) into the custom search engine and you can read probably a hundred previous threads on the subject.

My standard reply is that I really don't see the attraction, with so many stable and fancy looking handle wood choices available. While there are examples of figured pieces of these colored woods, most I have seen are rather plain beyond the color.

 

[Cushing H.]

Kind of what I was thinking. Thanks Stacy

 

[PEU]

Its mostly due to the tannin content of the woods, here is a photo of a flashlight run I did more than 15 years ago, the wood for all of them is Quebracho, which is rich in tannins. Darker ones where exposed longer to sunlight.

Pablo

 

[Cushing H.]

Its mostly due to the tannin content of the woods, here is a photo of a flashlight run I did more than 15 years ago, the wood for all of them is Quebracho, which is rich in tannins. Darker ones where exposed longer to sunlight.

Pablo

Instructive photo Pablo. Thank you!

 

[Greenberg Woods]

My opinion on this is basically, its not a huge deal.

Paduak does fade, but not THAT much. Unless its outdoors, in direct sunlight and completely uncared for for maybe a year, it will stay looking pretty nice.

And if it does fade, give it 30 seconds with 1000 grit paper and a light buff and the color is restored.

Amboyna burl is a type of paduak, and it ages down to a beautiful deep red, but if you want that glowing blood red again, just sand it a little. I can easily ID well aged paduak, it doesnt turn brown like oak or walnut, it goes a darker brick red.

Desert Ironwood trends towards black, but again, just give it a little TLC if you really want to maintain the color.

I think the color ageing is actually attractive in some instances, this is some afzelia burl. First photo is the fresh sawn side, second photo is with a little time.