"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...

Ah, I learned something today. So, apparently the wood darkens with age
and
exposure to what? UV? Air? I assumed the dark brown color was natural
heartwood. Or perhaps a stain used by the Central American carvers.

Max

The limited amount of ironwood that I have cut has always had some gold or
light brown mixed with the streaks of very dark brown, almost black
sections. (See John McGaw's posts on topic). The carvings that I have seen
and/or purchased are almost always dark brown and fairly uniform in color.
I suspect that the carvers apply some sort of stain or top coating to make
the color uniform. I read somewhere that they use brown boot stain and/or
brown shoe wax, but that may just be some misinformation.

Ken