Purpleheart

Purpleheart's general qualities are outlined below. From our headquarters in Leicestershire, we can supply high-quality cuts of purpleheart wood across the UK. For all enquiries and information, please contact our customer support team.

Durability:

Very durable. Sapwood liable to attack by powder post beetle. Extremely resistant to preservative treatment but the sapwood is permeable.

Mechanical Properties:

High strength in bending, stiffness and crushing categories and medium resistance to shock loads, with a moderate steam bending classification.

Seasoning:

Dries fairly rapidly with little degrade, but care is needed to dry out the centre of thick pieces. Air drying is slow, with some end and surface checking or case hardening. There is small movement in service.

Uses:

  • Despite its expensive price tag in comparison to other materials, the durable qualities of purpleheart wood mean it is one of the more weather-resistant timbers available and as such it has a wide range of uses
  • The wood colour is at its best when sawcut, as steaming affects the soluble phonicoin content.
  • Purpleheart flooring has grown increasingly popular, as have other home furnishings such as furniture
  • Other uses include decorative veneers for inlaying and marquetry work
  • Heavy outdoor construction work
  • Bridge building
  • Fresh water piling
  • Dock Work
  • Cladding
  • Domestic construction & Furniture
  • Gymnasium equipment
  • Shafts
  • Tool handles
  • Boat building
  • Turnery
  • Billiard tables
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Description

Purpleheart’s general qualities are outlined below. From our headquarters in Leicestershire, we can supply high-quality cuts of purpleheart wood across the UK. For all enquiries and information, please contact our customer support team.

  • Colour: As the name suggests, Purpleheart’s heartwood is a deep purple-violet colour when freshly cut, maturing to a dark brown. The original colour is restored when re-cut.
  • Grain: Straight grained, but often irregular, wavy, and sometimes interlocked, producing a pleasing striped figure on quartered surfaces.
  • Texture: moderate to fine.
  • Weight: Weight varies from 800-1,000 kg/m³ (50-63 lb/ft³) averaging 860 kg/m³ (54 lb/ft³).
  • Specific gravity: 86.

Additional information

Latin Name

Peltogyne pubescens

Family Name

Leguminosae

Distribution

Central America and tropical South America

Also know as

Amaranth, violetwood (USA); koroboreli, saka, sakavalli (Guyana); purperhart (Surinam); pau roxo, nazareno, morado (Venezuela); tananeo (Columbia)