The Purpleheart hearts

I had some Purpleheart in stock and figured this would be the perfect project to use some of it.

I “borrowed” a gingerbread cutter from the kitchen and sliced a small piece off the end of a plank. After tracing the heart shape, I cut out the rough blanks on the bandsaw. The accuracy didn’t need to be perfect — I was going to whittle them to shape anyway.

I then sliced blanks from the heart shaped block and planed each side smooth with a #4 hand plane.

Time for some great music on the sound system, the whittling knife in hand, and the strop at the ready. I have a very comfy chair in the shop, so it turned into quite an enjoyable session!
I also drilled a hole for the cord — about 0.5 mm (just over ¹/₆₄”) larger than the cord’s thickness.

A light pass with the sanding pad, a bit of beeswax, and a leather cord — plus a day on the windowsill to let the sunlight work its magic — and the purple color came out beautifully.

I used sliding necklace knots to make the cords adjustable. For attaching the heart, I tied an alpine butterfly knot — perfect for turning the direction 90°, which is exactly what I needed.

The hearts will buff to a soft shine once someone starts wearing them; the beeswax finish takes care of that. I also made a few hearts in oak and finished them with shellac. They turned out nicely, though the wood is a bit on the boring side, to be honest.

Next up: some chemistry — and Advent calendars.