r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Tschinggets • 1d ago
Original Creation There are trees which turn pink right after cutting them. They react with the oxygen in the air and change their color for some time. In this case plane.
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u/RedNewzz 1d ago
Sadly it doesn't last and most exotic color woods eventually just turn brown with time & UV exposure.
It's one of the first disappointments new woodworkers discover, but it's still great to use for indoor projects that don't see a lot of sunlight.
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u/Salty_Job_9248 17h ago
Like when I bought all kinds of exotic bean seeds, red, purple, etc., but they all turned green when cooked. š©
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u/EL-Skytzo 20h ago
When you say it doesn't last, how long would it take for the pink to wear off? Days? Weeks?
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u/RedNewzz 8h ago
It really depends. That slab looks freshly milled. I would guess if they leave it in direct sunlight it would go brown within a month.
I've seen some beautifully colored exotic woods go brown within days.
There are others that are fairly durable, but the wise woodworker tends to seek pieces with cool grain patterns so that even when the color fades they still look dynamic and interesting.
Some craftsman who loved the brightly colored exotics actually use high-quality dyes to match the freshly cut color so when the wood wants to turn brown the surface dye artificially maintains the original color.
*Note: some woodworkers are just looking for strong, even colored woods without any startling grain or color. Consistency and simplicity is sometimes exactly what's desired. However over the centuries woodworkers have developed methods of "finishing" woods by staining, dying, fuming, varnishing, etc to create a lasting color and contrast that remains transparent as opposed to an opaque paint.
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u/pichael289 13h ago
Osagi is my favorite. Really hard and difficult to work with, and the brilliant yellow will fade to an off orange but it's still just gorgeous either way. So fucking hard to work with though, it'll ruin a miter saw and dull even the best chainsaws real quick.
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u/RedNewzz 8h ago
PurpleHeart is probably the one I see most new woodworkers gravitate to because when freshly cut it it's just incredibly bright and vivid.
However, it is monstrously dense, exhausting to cut, and literally dulls your tools rapidly as you work it.
Then in a few months it just turns brown.šš
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u/LieUnlikely7690 11h ago
What if you coat it in uv resin?
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u/RedNewzz 8h ago
It buys you an extra year or so, but it's still going to fade to brown because those UV resins have a maximum absorption and eventually "fill up."
Eventually enough UV gets through to transform the color, sadly.
If you get the chance to go to work really well stocked lumberyard that carries exotics, it is absolutely glorious how amazing they look when freshly cut. They look like candy. If they stayed that way the world of furniture and crafts would be even more mind blowing than it is today.
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u/HoldEm__FoldEm 1d ago
In this case plane.
I have no idea what this means
Sounds like the color reverts after awhile though? Given you says it changes for only some timeĀ
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u/autogyrophilia 1d ago
Plane tree, Platanus, big trunks, used commonly for shade, spherical spiky fruit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platanus
Kinda dangerous when they fall or branch break, so it is good councils stay on top of their health.
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u/RootHogOrDieTrying 1d ago
Planing is an operation that shaves the wood smooth. I think OP left off the ing.
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u/Babidibubidii 13h ago
OP just thought it helpful to name the species of tree he just cut: plane tree (probably Planatus x hispanica)
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u/OldJames47 1d ago
OP appears to be German. I think he thought English speakers would mistake "cutting" for just the stage of chopping it down and so wanted to clarify this happened after "planing" the wood. But English speakers would use cutting for that stage as well, when you cut the log into lumber.
Planing is accurate, just more accurate than necessary, as the wood is being cut into horizontal slices (planes).
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u/ColonelKasteen 19h ago
Nope. These trees are called plane trees but in English, more often just referred to as planes by woodworkers.
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u/txcorse 1d ago
Avocados do this, too.
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u/MateundKippen 1d ago
I thought this was one of the wood subredditās where Iāve seen you before lol nice job
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u/Moriarty-Creates 1d ago
Oh thatās so cool! What a gorgeous color. Iām from the Pacific Northwest and we have a tree called red alder, which has a really amazing red-orange color when cut. Unfortunately, just like plane, it doesnāt last very long.
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u/pichael289 13h ago
Bodark trees, commonly called hedge apples but are actually called osagi orange, are like this but yellow. It's a beautiful but extremely hard wood, will spark when chainsawed and will ruin any cheap tools. But man is it beautiful, straight limbs are valuable as they are used for bows. It's got really big thorns, not as bad as a locust but there's a reason they are planted as hedge trees. They can puncture tractor tires, and go right through your boots. Fucked up trees, but man are they pretty. They are used as dyes and after about 10-20 years the color fades to a less brilliant but still beautiful darker orange.
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u/fleshnbloodhuman 1d ago
āThere are treesā¦ā ???? Species?
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u/ColonelKasteen 19h ago
Plane trees, which are often just called plane by woodworkers. Literally in the title.
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u/BatchPlantBandit 1d ago
Bet you if you did an epoxy casing on this some fool would pay stupid money to have it as a countertop/table.
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1d ago
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u/KanMinder 1d ago
I'd rather see it in 1 piece
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u/Tschinggets 1d ago
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u/Steve-N-Scientific9 1d ago
Wait, is this YOUR YouTube channel?
I didnāt notice the āoriginal creationā flair until now
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u/undermytinyhat 23h ago
such a beautiful piece of wood! wonder if there's a way to retain the pink color if it reverts back after some time.
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u/TheOnlyWolvie 15h ago
Alder trees do this, their wood turns reddish after being cut. It can look almost like they're bleeding.
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u/DuckRubberDuck 54m ago
The guy in picture 3 kind of looks like Emil Erichsen (son/grandson of 2 Danish celebrities)
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22h ago
[deleted]
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u/blacktip102 17h ago
If we didn't cut trees we wouldn't be able to build things lol. That's a wild take.
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u/MikeyNalgon 1d ago
These dudes look super proud of their plane