[KTfromNJ]

I've had some exotic wood lying around from a woodcraft grab box someone got me, and have decided to try and carve it. Is it possible to carve it with hand tools? It seems too hard to me, maybe I need to introduce some power into the equation? If anyone has any experience with carving purpleheart, feel free to offer some advice. Thanks!

[Mitchell]

Purpleheart is one of the HARDEST woods there is. I would not use hand tools. I seem to remember that there are some safety issues with the dust (hazardous), so I'd be very careful with the dust.

I was right -> look at the link for some discussion on purpleheart dust:

Sick breathing wood dust?

[Ashbys]

I stongly suggest power. Purpleheart , ranks up there with , hickory ( which may be softer) and ironwood. Possible with handtools but plan on small cuts and lots of honing.

[VAwoodcarver]

Yeah, i dont know if its worth trying with hand tools. Unless you have big enough pieces to use a mallet with cause purple heart is some stubborn! stuff. Ive had a few pieces but never have gotten a piece finished with it. I think it would work pretty well with mallet tools and a mallet...

[kitaye]

I was told by the guy at the wood supplier in town that Purpleheart and Lignum Vitae(?) are so hard they have to be milled not carved. I don't know if that is true or not.

[VAwoodcarver]

Well lignum vitae is so hard! and dense ive never even thought of setting a knife to lignum. Its what you find a lot of old mallets made of but it is no longer legal(i think) to mass import lignum vitae. I have a mallet from it and boy is it hard!

[Ashbys]

A mallet and chisel will work it, but it is work.

Lets see if I can explain, I make a lot of frames from it. In setting thoses frames I told a boy to drill it and set it with srcews, he drilled the hole to small and broke the screws going in. Then he decided to use the air nailer, 100 psi 1 and 1/2 long nail . The nail went in about 1/4 of an inch , bent broke out the side of the frame. He never got through the first 1/2 inch much less getting the joined , I made another frame.

I would think , even a small mistake would break a chisel eaisly. It's great when it is worked , but it takes a lot of effort to get results, that are eaisly aquired in other woods.

In my opinion.

[falconer]

Even with power tools the wood "will" burn and you'll ruin your bit. Very hard stuff but it's nice to look at!!



www.sierracreekstudios.com

[TCooper]

I use it for knife handles a lot. Pretty stuff, too much heat will dull the purple color and it does burn extremely easy. Whatever you use just make sure it is SHARP.

[Claude]

As Falconer says, it'll frequently burn when using burrs in a power tool...depending on the burr, of course. I've had good success with a Monster brand carbide bit, as well as Kutzall, but you have to take it fairly slowly. I've also found that you can use one of the small dremel sanding sleeves on a mandrel and it takes it down just about as fast as the carbide bit, although it creates way more dust. Wear a dust mask, as well as having a close dust collector...also, ear and eye protection are a must. My wife says I look like some sort of science fiction character when I use my Dremel...

Claude