photo reactive wood

[Bowskin]

i had a conversation earlier with someone about some purple heart tip overlays. i was telling them how the board i got was from a hard wood store over 5 hours away from my home. when i got the board and tied it up top, it was brown, but after 5 hours in the summer sun it turned that classic deep purple. the gentlemen i was talking to encouraged me to seal the wood so it would not turn brown (again). where i informed him i had.


but these woods that react with light, even when osage darkens, what other woods lighten,or darken, what are there before and after colors?

and like the aforementioned conversation, does anyone have an opinion on woods reversing back to the color theyorigianted from, whether by continouis exposure or lack there of?

any thoughts?

[jturner]

Not sure if its the same but I have some walnut and ash boards my gandad got sawn in the late 40s and early 50s the walnut is very light in color, almost looks bleached. The white ash is very dark , both are hard on the tools but the ash is almost imposible to cut. I have ash that i have cut in the last few years but nothing like the color of this stuff

[jthompson1995]

Lots of woods change over time and exposure to light. Purpleheart, cherry, cocobolo & other rosewoods, paela, osage, lignum vitae (greenheart) all come to mind as woods that can change dramatically with exposure to light. The woods can continue to darken until they appear dark brown or black depending on the species unless they are sealed/finished with a UV protective finish such as spar urethane.

I haven't seen many woods lighten unless they are exposed to extended weather or bright sunlight but this usually is a degradation of the wood surface, turning silvery gray like most wood that is left outside will.

[Del the cat]

Yew can go from orangey straw colour to a dark redish honey brown over time. But even a few hours will darken freshly exposed
by a tone.
Del

[Grunt]

Cherry is a good example of photo reactive wood. I've made hundreds of cherry salad bowls over the years and I always set them in my studio window to " warm them up" to a deeper red before I deliver them. Purple Heart will change also. As jthompson said the best bet ,if you don't want the color change is to use a UV finish like spar varnish.

[George Tsoukalas]

Osage is too. In fact, osage after about 20 years will become purple me thinks. Jawge

[Hillbilly]

Mulberry darkens pretty quickly, too.

[HatchA]

Osage is too. In fact, osage after about 20 years will become purple me thinks. Jawge

Is that untreated or does the sun still affect the wood through any sealing layer?

Might be an interesting project to make an osage bow up to the finishing stage, then leave in a glass-house for 20 years or so, then seal it up and have a purple osage orange bow

[Hillbilly]

Exposure to light will turn even a heavily-sealed osage bow dark brown with time.

[sailordad]

i have an osage bow that i was gifted from a very fine person on this site
the date on it says it was made in '05, and this bow is dark but i am not sure if it was stained.but from looking it over i would say that it wasnt stained