Purpleheart order not so purple

[AHill]

Glad you're getting it resolved. The black looks like it might be black mold to me. I'd try spritzing baking soda dissolved in water and see what happens. I'd avoid bleach, as it'll likely change the color of the purple parts of the board. You could try a very light planing of the boards and see what happens as well.

[TomFromStLouis]

....  You could try a very light planing of the boards and see what happens as well.

LOL. If you mean with a hand plane, frustration is what will happen.

I'd give a machine jointer or planer a shot though with low expectations. That black looks like a mold or fungus issue, or maybe metal stain. Either way, likely to go through the board (as hinted at by the flip side).

[iclark]

LOL. If you mean with a hand plane, frustration is what will happen.

I'd give a machine jointer or planer a shot though with low expectations. That black looks like a mold or fungus issue, or maybe metal stain. Either way, likely to go through the board (as hinted at by the flip side).

If the black goes all the way through the board and the wood is not punky under the worst of it, then I would not expect it to be mold or fungus.

If it might be metal stain, then using a metal detector on that board might be interesting.

You could use a pocket knife blade on edge as a scraper to lightly scrape close to the edge of the black area to see if the black scrapes off.