(upbeat jazz music)
Marc: Welcome to Episode 8 of the
Wood Whisperer video podcast.
I'm your host Marc Spagnuolo.
Today I think we're going to do a lot of talking.
I was planning on making this a typed text post
but I figured you'd be much happier
seeing my smiling face instead of reading
some boring old text.
So today we're going to talk about...
Voiceover: Science.
Marc: Don't worry.
I promise it will be interesting and helpful.
Now if you haven't experienced it already,
you'll soon realize that many woods change
color over time.
Since our design choices often depend
on the colors we select it's critical that
we understand what the piece will look like
tomorrow, next year, and 10 years from now.
So let's dig right in.
Now Nicole and I have been spending the last few evenings
giving our business website for Marc's Wood Creations
a complete overhaul.
Part of the plan includes an updated picture gallery.
I was going to through all of my old woodworking pictures
and I came across this picture of my router table
just after I completed it.
The padauk trim is a screaming orange red color
and the cherry drawer fronts are almost
indistinguishable from the maple door that's on the bottom.
A friend of mine once described this piece
as a router table in drag.
Now fast forward two years
and here's what the piece looks like today.
Aside from the fact that it's a little beat up,
notice the dramatic difference in the colors.
The padauk has turned a much duller dark burgundy color
and the cherry has turned into that classic
medium brown aged cherry color.
Now it's quite obvious that the drawers are cherry
and the bottom drawer is maple.
Now when I made this piece,
I was well aware of the color changes
were going to be in store for it
but since it was for shop furniture
I didn't really care.
But imagine if I made this piece for my living room
and I wanted all the drawers and the doors to look similar.
I'd be pretty disappointed right about now.
And to further complicate things,
look how drastic and obvious the differences
between the heartwood and the sapwood in the
top two right drawers.
As woodworkers we have a wonderful pallet of colors
to choose from when it comes to our heartwood selection.
Yellowheart, purpleheart, and padauk just to name a few,
are all prized for their amazingly vivid colors.
Now we know what these woods look like
when they're fresh cut,
but what do they look like after several years?
Unfortunately we don't have enough time
to go over every wood out there,
but I'd like to at least highlight
a few of the common exotics,
as well as discuss some of the science
behind the wood colors themselves
and the differences between heartwood and sapwood.
If I find anything links relative to wood colors
I will post them in the write up that
accompanies this podcast.
So you might be wondering
what makes wood colored in the first place?
Why are some woods streaked with light areas
and dark areas?
If you weren't wondering,
then sit down, shut up, and learn something for once.
Sorry about that.
Just had a flashback.
Anyway, what you're looking at when you see
the distinct line between a dark color
and a lighter color area,
like on this piece of zebrawood actually,
this is the separation of heartwood and sapwood.
Now the sapwood is nearly always a light cream color
and the heartwood is usually a darker color.
Now as the wood transitions from sapwood to the heartwood
the cells walls will contain compounds known as extractives.
These extractives serve several functions
including decay resistance and durability.
But the property that we're interested in today
is the fact that their usually pigmented.
Now this pigment is what gives
the wood its characteristic color.
Walnut's brown, purpleheart's purple, and so on.
As a result, the heartwood is what we as woodworkers
are usually interested in.
Now let's take a look at good old cherry.
When freshly milled,
cherry is a pale sort of pinkish light brown color.
I just ran this section here over the jointer
to expose some fresh wood.
Now over time it'll age to become a dark rich
reddish brown color like the rest of the piece.
This actually has about two years of exposure on it.
The contrast is just amazing.
Now as with most woods this color change
can be accelerated with sun exposure.
Even just a few days in direct sun will make cherry
a significantly different color.
Now out of the sun cherry will take somewhere
around, I don't know, maybe six to eight months to change.
Now let's take a look at some padauk.
Now when it's first cut padauk is almost
an unnatural bright orange color.
It's really amazing.
Over time though it does change to a dark reddish brown
as you saw in the pictures of the router table.
You can even see here where one board
was resting up against this board and actually caused
the color change to slow down a little bit.
And lastly let's take a look at some purpleheart.
When it's fresh cut the wood turns a greyish brown color.
This is pretty alarming if you're using the
wood for the first time but don't worry
the elements will bring the purple color back in no time.
Just keep working on the project and within
a day or two the color will be a nice vivid purple.
Now over time, quite a long time actually,
purpleheart will start to turn more of a dark brown
with sort of a purple hue.
Now I actually have a couple of pieces
that are over three years old
and they're still a vivid purple.
Now if your goal is to maintain a bright vivid color
in just about any wood you've got an uphill
battle ahead of you.
You can slow down the process by keeping the wood
out of the direct sun and using a finish
that contains UV absorbers.
In fact, many spar varnishes and urethanes
contain UV absorbers, it might be a good option
for the task of maintaining color.
The sad truth is that nothing will completely
stop the change.
It's pretty much inevitable,
and the only way to get the color back is to refinish.
So you might want to consider using a very light finish,
maybe just a few coats of an oil varnish mixture
that can be sanded and re-coated as needed
to bring the color back.
The take-home message today is that we need to be
aware of the potential color changes
and that we need to make the recipients of our work
aware of color changes as well.
Now if you find yourself mesmerized by some
brightly colored exotic wood during your
next trip to the heartwood dealer,
make sure you do your research before making
a big purchase.
Many woodworkers fallen victim to the engaging allure
of that sweet siren padauk.
Oh, if we could only get the color back
that we had when we first met. (kisses wood)
So when selecting new exotic woods,
I suggest doing a Google search first.
If that doesn't yield anything,
then just go to a few woodworking forums
and search the archives or even post a new question.
You can even find a few links to forums
right there on the Wood Whisperer homepage.
I hope you've enjoyed this very short
and very talky edition of the Wood Whisperer.
As always be sure to visit the website at
www.TheWoodWhisper.com.
If you have any questions or comments
please feel free to email us at
TheWoodWhisperer@Gmail.com.
So, until next time, chow.