# Ruined my 1st jewelry box :(



## Duane867 (Oct 25, 2008)

Well I had my 1st blunder.... I mean learning experience.... today.

I learned purple heart is hot garbage for anything other then straight cuts 
Finished the box. glued it up ( after fixing pretty good cling on type tear out from rabbeting ) then I started rounding the edges with a round over on all 4 corners. I started @ 1/8" and worked my way up to full contact. I was weary of tear out from the past experience so I figured shallow and careful over end grain would be best. Each shallow pass the tear out got worse and worse. 
BRAND NEW BIT as well. I am disgusted. the stuff was just to dry and brittle I guess ? I have never worked with it before but damn it man I hate the stuff already. I tried the same thing with 1/2" ply wood and got zero tear out. WITH PLY WOOD I SAID !  Tried it on solid oak no tear out....Pine ( of course ) no tear out. Even tried it on a maple cut off with no tear out. 
But every time on every end grain no matter what speed or depth gave me massive tear out with the purple heart. 

Told the little woman she was getting a pine, or maple jewelry box by god !
LOL! No more purple heart for me thanks. 1st it seemed a tiny bit oily then dried out something fierce I guess over two weeks. I'm making another out of simple pine 1x6 this week to test a few things out. I may just make it from pine. I like pine my self. Finishes nicely when sanded well. Takes stain nicely when sanded well too.


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

Sorry to hear of your negative experience with purple heart. I will try to learn from your experience and will avoid purple heart for now anyway.


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## Duane867 (Oct 25, 2008)

Well at least I only wasted a little over 1 board feet. 
I had planned on buying a bunch because she loves purple. 
Glad I didn't do that now LOL! If she want's purple that bad I'll just use dye.


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## Bob N (Oct 12, 2004)

Duane,

Purpleheart won't stay purple anyhow :no:

As far as pine, it is one of my favorite woods to work with :yes2:

There, now you have my .02 in the matter :dance3:


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## jd99 (Jun 17, 2009)

If she really want's the purple heart, what about stoping just shy of the end and finishing the last of it by hand with a file? had to do that on some wood a while back (I can't remember what it was) but it tore out like you described and I had to do the lat little bit by hand.


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## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

I've had some luck with lacewood and lots of shallow passes (and I do mean shallow) but I also backrouted what would have been the exit point when feeding in the "correct" direction. Just backed in about an inch or so, then pulled the piece off the fence and ran the right way. Done on a table and with a large enough workpiece I could hold it securely.

Remember, if you do try to backroute something, the bit wants to grab and throw the piece.


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## dustmaker (May 18, 2009)

Hmm, I've never worked with purple heart, so I can't help you there, but when I have experienced extreme tear out it was always with wood that was still a bit wet. Dry, brittle fibers should break off easier than moist ones. Is the tearout along the edge or just at the end at the exit? Did you try using a backing board to support the cut? 
Maybe others who have worked purple heart will chime in with more help.


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## woodworking_dad (Oct 30, 2009)

I've used Purple heart for pen turning and I've always had good results. I can say that it is pretty hard and you have to watch when sanding to be sure to not skip grits so you can get all of the marks out of it. A random orbit sander working with progressive bits might do a better job. I'd knock down the major portion of the round off with a disk sander then finish the rest with a RO sander.

Everyone is correct that the wood does not stay the bright purple as when you first cut it. I've got a PH pen that I use daily and you can still see the color in it (though it is darker in color now). I use a poly finish that is buffed on the lathe and a finish coat of wax on top.


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## anotherBob (Oct 28, 2009)

Duane867, if you're still out there... (just saw the date you posted), how fast were you spinning that bit? I've found that some times if you reduce the speed to roughly 2/3, and keep your feed rate up there, you might fare better. Problem is with the grain direction(s) most of the time, it goes one way, then will reverse on you. Like others have said, it will fade on you eventually... but you can slow it down by sealing with shellac. Like woodworking dad said, it really does take a fine polish... if you can get past getting it there.


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