Replies

1. 
   Paul_Snyder | Feb 25, 2004 02:24am | #1

   Chris,

   Could you describe the look you want in some detail? For example, do you want a painted finish (off white) with crackle and/or wear through areas that look like years of wear & tear? Or a stained finish with a white/off white glazing in the corners & recesses. Or....?

   If stained, what color? Are there 3 woods - maple, birch, & poplar? What wood is on the face of the doors & drawers?

   EDIT - what finishes (varnish, poly, lacquer, etc.) have you used and how do you apply them (pad, brush, spray, etc.)

   Paul

   
   

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   Edited 2/24/2004 6:26:22 PM ET by Paul S

1. 
   ChrisB | Feb 25, 2004 06:48pm | #2

   Thanks for replying Paul.

   The doors will be solid maple and the face frames are poplar.  The boxes are all made out of A/B plywood with the maple on the A side. So the maple will be seen the most. We don't really care about  the inside of the boxes as much as what the average person will see. The doors and drawer fronts will all be of a shaker style.

   So I think were just trying to achieve a look that makes the cabinets seem as if they have been around a while.  Probably the destressed look would be more along the lines of what we're trying to accomplish. We've seen what we want in some cabinet shops and home stores but no one ever knows how it's applied. 

   I'm thinking you just put on a base coat , rub off and sand the edges then apply your glaze. Does that sound right? Or what am I missing?

   Thanks again.

1. 
   Paul_Snyder | Feb 26, 2004 05:15am | #5

   Chris,

   The "Early American Maple Finish" is at this link - E.A. Maple. BillC mis-spelled the link; it's http://www.homesteadfinishing.com

   When you say "base coat," do you mean paint (or another opaque finish like pigmented lacquer)?

   Most kitchen manufacturers have samples of their finishes on the web. If you can find an example, it'll help a lot to understand the exact look you want.Paul

1. 
   ChrisB | Feb 26, 2004 06:49pm | #6

   Thanks again Paul. I thought the look  we were trying to achieve was accomplished by painting. But not so sure now. I found similar looks on the kraftmaid website . They were called Taupe Glaze and Bisque glaze. Kinda similar except the bisque was a little brighter. I think the taupe glaze is more of what were looking for.

1. 
   Gretchen | Feb 26, 2004 07:49pm | #7

   Try going to    hgtv.com   and look at some of their methods and ideas.Gretchen

2. 
   Paul_Snyder | Feb 28, 2004 05:57am | #8

   Chris,

   The pictures on their website are pretty bad (so are the ones in their catalogue) so I stopped by the local home center and looked at the actual finish.

   The finish is a paint (an off-white) that has been dinged up with various objects (distressed), then glazed with what looks like a raw umber, then clear coated. The glazing was confined to the corners, recesses, and dents/dings only; there wasn't any glaze on the flats/field of the door face/frame.

   To do this finish, it's best to spray the "paint" and you can use any color you like. Spraying will give you a very smooth finish without brush marks. In place of paint, you can use a water-base or solvent-base pigmented lacquer. Jeff Jewitt at Homestead Finishing sells Target Coatings "Premium Spray Lacquer (PSL)" in a number of colors and may be able to mix a custom color on request (you'll have to ask). The PSL is a waterborne pigmented lacquer.

   Once the "paint" has cured, go ahead and ding it up with different implements. I use different sections of a variety of hand tools (e.g., different angles on an open end wrench, the point of a nail set, the edge of a paint scraper, the side of a pair of pliers, etc...) to make a variety of dents and dings. Practice on some large scraps; you don't want to over-do the distressing or make it too organized. Study the sample at the store to see how they did it.

   After distressing, brush a glaze into all the corners and recesses of the doors/drawers and into the dents/dings. A little glaze goes a long way, so you don't need very much. Use a rag to remove the glaze from all but the corners, recesses, and dents/dings. The sample I looked at was glazed a greenish/brown color that looked a lot like raw umber. Raw umber is a good color for producing and "aged" look. There was a discussion on this in another post (Raw Umber for "Aged" look).

   Let the glaze dry for a couple days (oil-base glaze) and then topcoat with a water-clear, non-yellowing finish in the sheen of your choice (satin is a good choice to hide imperfections). The clear coat will seal and protect the "paint" and glaze. Again, spraying will produce the best results. I'd use either the clear PSL or the Super-Clear Polyurethane from Target Coatings. The poly is more durable and clearer.

   There's no requirement to distress and glaze the face frames unless you really want to.

   Paul

3. 
   ChrisB | Mar 01, 2004 06:38pm | #9

   Sounds like something I can actually do . I just completed all of the cabinets this weekend so i'll try to start finishing this week.

   Thanks for all the advice Paul. You were really specific and patient. I appreciate that. I'll have to post some pictures when I am all done.

4. 
   Paul_Snyder | Mar 02, 2004 12:49am | #10

   Good luck Chris. I look forward to seeing the final product.

   Paul

2. 
   Bill5507 | Feb 25, 2004 09:22pm | #3

   Hi Chris,

   Check out http://www.homesteadrefinishing.com, Jeff Jewitt, a contributor here has an article about making an creating an antique early american finish for a maple peice that he has. 

   Bill

1. 
   ChrisB | Feb 26, 2004 02:57am | #4

   I tried that website Bill and it showed as not existing. Thanks anyway.