Preferences on Ipe burl "Wood with very strange color shift"

[Greenberg Woods]

Hey Guys, anyone who follows my instagram will know i have been working on some very unusual ipe burl. This material has a grain i have never seen in ipe, with incredibly tiny eyes mixed together with flowing, bubbling grain.

The thing is, the color changes when left in the sun. I am not sure if it is due to heat, light or oxygen. I currently have one block sealed in a pure oxygen environment, one block in a chamber heated to 140 degree F and another block in a makeshift sterilization chamber being exposed to high intensity UV light.

Either way, when exposed to sunlight the burl goes from a mixed brown/ beige/ yellow/ black/ pink to a deep red with greens, browns and blacks. I have photos below. You should easily be able to tell the difference.

My questions is, which do you like more? Should i treat all the blocks to show what they will look like red? Or treat them to show as the earthy brown? Please let me know.

 

[timos-]

well I sure like the more brown tones....this stuff is so cool looking!!

 

[jdm61]

To be honest, they both look good.

 

[Matt Rochester]

I like the brown better. I just wonder how dark it'll get over time?

 

[jdm61]

I had a thought. If you can figure out a way to get the "in between" color, I think you will have a winner. Are you going to stabilize the stuff?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Problem with your experiment is we make handles from the blocks. Any external colors will be gone in one second when it hits the grinder. Your experiment could help someone get an idea of what a forced treatment of the finished knife might look like.

I'd set some on a window sill and let it get light and air for a month or two. Then you will know what it will become under normal situations.

 

[Lapedog]

Or he could just treat the scales after he has shaped them.

 

[golfer1]

I don't know if there is any wood that does not change color when exposed to air and sunlight over a period of time. Oak, Ash, Bloodwood, Pine etc all change colors. Applying a finish can retard the change but in most cases the wood will still change anyway.
Perhaps you are just showing what to expect as exposure happens through use.

 

[Greenberg Woods]

well I sure like the more brown tones....this stuff is so cool looking!!

Thanks. The natural color has so much variation I can't capture here. There are blues, purples and blacks running through it

 

[Greenberg Woods]

I don't know if there is any wood that does not change color when exposed to air and sunlight over a period of time. Oak, Ash, Bloodwood, Pine etc all change colors. Applying a finish can retard the change but in most cases the wood will still change anyway.
Perhaps you are just showing what to expect as exposure happens through use.

Perhaps. But I've worked a lot of wood and never seen a change as dramatic as this.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Or he could just treat the scales after he has shaped them.

He is seling handle blocks.

As I said, the experiments might help someone do it to a knife they made from his wood, by knowing what it will look like in several months after finishing.If tghey had the setup to do Ben's treatments, they could speed it up.

 

[Greenberg Woods]

He is seling handle blocks.

As I said, the experiments might help someone do it to a knife they made from his wood, by knowing what it will look like in several months after finishing.If tghey had the setup to do Ben's treatments, they could speed it up.

Once I nail down the major variable "heat oxygen or light" I plan on doing some experiments to determine the best way to reach the color.

If anyone wants to try this stuff, I'll be doing a lower cost run exclusive to Blade forum members in the exchange in a few days

 

[T.Saslow]

I personally like the deep red/brown color more. It may be a good idea to treat one side of the block and leave the other its freshly-milled color so the customer can get an idea of which he prefers and which would look best on a knife. I would like to put this wood to the test, but Combat Abrasives took all my money
-Tanner

 

[Brock Cutlery]

I like the red. Looking forward to your figuring out the cause. That is a pretty cool observation Ben.

 

[Greenberg Woods]

I personally like the deep red/brown color more. It may be a good idea to treat one side of the block and leave the other its freshly-milled color so the customer can get an idea of which he prefers and which would look best on a knife. I would like to put this wood to the test, but Combat Abrasives took all my money
-Tanner

Ive never been a combat fan. Tru grit has my heart.

 

[T.Saslow]

Ive never been a combat fan. Tru grit has my heart.

I have been mainly using Norton Blaze belts and norax followed by hand finishing up until this point. I figured why not give them a try; they were having a 20% off sale. Maybe I'll like the belts, maybe I'll hate them. The fact that I got them for such a good price made giving them a try an easy decision. If I choose not to use them again, then I have only wasted a little bit of money in comparison to what I would have spent testing someone else's abrasives. Lets hope I get some good use out of the belts I bought
-Tanner