I am coming around to purpleheart.

I've been working with purpleheart lately for this bar I'm building with some friends, and I have to admit I haven't cared for the stuff much up until now. It's heavy, eats steel, and it really likes to stab me with brittle needle-y splinters.

But now that I got through final surfacing and I can see it with a wet coat of wiping varnish, I am coming around. It can take a smooth surfacing, and there is depth to the color I did not expect--magenta and red and hints of orange even.

It looks like the finish is already starting to dry in this photo I took 1 minute after wiping it on. That's probably a good sign.

Now I am just hoping it cures. I used acetone to remove some surface oils, and thinned my go-to polyurethane with mineral spirits. I am pretty sure this will work, but the seed of doubt has been planted--people on the internet talking about shellac.

I'm also interested to see what the sun will do to the color. Time will tell on both counts. It has a habit of doing that.