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A wood with a lot of "figure" or "burl" in it ...will give the craftsman some trouble ....."figured wood" gives you spots that are a little harder, some softer - and back and forth ....and with the grain going all kinds of directions....it can give you a little tearout ( which is frustrating ) ...if you shaper or router bits aren't really sharp ...
The real hard and brittle woods ...with long grains ...like Purple Heart ...are pretty easy to work along the grain ...but when you get "cross grain" ....sometimes it'll crack .../ takes patience to work it ...( and its always the last pass ...when it cracks) ... its the "law" of things...
and I'm not saying you should use it for a stock ....but "purple heart" ...after you work it ...( into a bottle stopper, a pen barrel, a box....whatever...) its kind of "bland" ....so most of us / take a propane torch to it ...and heat it to the point where it almost starts to burn ...and the oils come out of it ,,,in a shock all at once....and turn it "plum purple" all at once....its a fine line between scorched and "plum purple" ....but the next time you're at a street fair ...and see some really dark purple ...ask them if its Purple Heart...and how they got it so bright ...( I'll bet they used heat ..)...
You have to be careful with these exotics on handgun stocks ....or shotgun stocks ....they're pretty dense ..../ but I've been considering a nice set of "purple heart" grip panels on an all stainless 1911 ...might be a good way to go .../ and about a dozen coats of a good clear lacquer finish over them to hold the color ...( shouldn't take me more than 100 man hours ...for one pair ) ...????
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