Purpleheart Wood

Purpleheart wood lumber gets its name by turning deep purple when exposed, and eventually turning dark brown.  Purpleheart wood lumber is used in turnery, cabinets, fine furniture, flooring, tool handles, heavy construction and shipbuilding.  Purplehear wood is also commonly used for bridge decking and heavy industrial construction due to its clear face and less expensive price over Teak and Ipe.

Stock Information

Species Information

  • GRADES: FAS/SEL
  • CUTS: Mixed Grain
  • SIZES: 4/4, 6/4, 8/4
  • DRYING: Kiln-Dried (KD)
  • OTHER NAMES: Amaranth, Morado, Violetwood, Guarabu
  • ORIGIN: Brazil and the middle Amazon region
  • APPEARANCE: Heartwood vivid red when freshly cut darkening to a purple brown on exposure; sapwood 4 to 8 in. wide, whitish to brown yellow, distinct. Texture coarse; grain straight to interlocked; lustrous; faint aromatic scent when freshly cut
  • DENSITY: Janka scale hardness ranges from 1,860 lb to 3,920 for dry material
  • WEIGHT: 50 – 66 lbs. / cu. ft., or approximately  5.5 lbs. per board foot
  • DRYING: Reports vary, air-dries easily to moderately difficult; dries slowly to fairly rapidly; with almost no degrade to some warping and splitting
  • WORKABILITY: Moderately difficult to work with either hand or machine tools, dulls cutters, exudes a gummy resin when heated by dull tools; slow feed rates and specially hardened cutters are suggested. Turns smoothly, easy to glue
  • DURABILITY: Heartwood is rated as highly durable in resistance to attack by decay fungi; very resistant to dry-wood termites; but little resistance to marine borers
  • PRESERVATION: Heartwood is reported to be extremely resistant to impregnation with preservative oils; sapwood is permeable
  • FINISHING: Finishes well

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