I have a musical instrument company, and I work quite a bit with both
Purple Heart and Padauk. Absolutely, you need good dust collectors and
respirators with both woods if you're doing any significant amount of
sanding or sawing. Padauk makes piles of fine orange dust, which gets
in everything and is bad to breathe. Purpleheart makes very tiny
little splinters which can be nasty, almost like catcus barbs. Be
careful when handling rough boards, and make sure to completely smooth
off all edges on your finished project.

Gluing both woods can also be a problem, because they both have a very
high content of resin, which gives them the bright color. It's like
the wood has been soaked in wax, so many types of glues just won't get
a good bond, regardless of your preparation. I don't trust Titebond
with either of these woods.

When you need to depend on the strength of the glue joint with either
of these woods, I recommend a good epoxy. The best I've found is Smith
& Co.'s All Wood Glue (an innocent sounding name). It's blended
specifically for gluing resinous hardwoods, and works very well.

I hope this helps.

Bruce Johnson


GerryG wrote in message . ..
I'll second that one, and then some. I resawed and milled a bunch of padauk to
make some fine boxes. Had a 2hp DC on the BS, plus an air cleaner and wore a
mask. In the end, the BS still ended up red. Made these perhaps 4 years ago,
finished with WB urethane. They are not in direct sunlight, and have held
their color and depth. I did use Titebond, but most joints were either
dovetail or finger. Suspect that a mechanically weaker joint may well need a
different glue. I seem to remember a spacer that broke loose, even though
plenty of long-long grain area and little strain.
GerryG

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 18:51:04 GMT, "J.B. Bobbitt"
wrote:

Be careful of the padauk sawdust, its known to be a severe allergen and/or
toxin. Milling or sanding it throws up A LOT of very fine reddish dust that
settles everywhere. I suffered a pretty severe chest infection after
working it in a closed-up shop once. Dust collection and a respirator are
in order.

I've read that oil-based finishes will cause padauk to turn darker brown
faster. I've also read recommendations for water-based urethanes. UV
protection is the key to preserving the color.

-jbb

"Ron Angel" wrote in message
news:Wd4Yc.249943$eM2.156208@attbi_s51...
Just pick up a small piece of each this morning.
I'm planning on making a few small desk items with it. Pen & pencil
holder,
bus card holder and such.

I've never used this wood before.

Any tips on working with it, specifically cutting & routing it.

I'm just planning on gluing it up with orig Titebond instead of trying to
shoot some 5/8" brads,
since they are both pretty dense woods.

What is a good choice for a finish which will help the woods retain their
great colors?

ThankX again,
Ron