Replies

1. 
   MikeHennessy | Jun 08, 2006 03:25pm | #1

   Look at any bookstore or paint store for a book on faux finishing. It involves several layers of paint with judicious wiping on/off the various coats.

   Mike Hennessy
   Pittsburgh, PA

2. 
   Rennie | Jun 08, 2006 03:42pm | #2

   Check out HGTV.com - They have a lot on info on this sort of thing.

   Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.
   Frank Lloyd Wright

1. 
   Gretchen | Jun 08, 2006 06:05pm | #3

   Both posters have good ideas. HGTV is real good.  Basically you want to paint the piece a color, then sand off the paint in places it would normally be "worn". Then a glaze can be applied to tone those areas and dull the paint. Milk paint is a good paint for this.Gretchen

3. 
   Rich14 | Jun 08, 2006 09:46pm | #4

   froemallet,

   The "look" you mention is also known as "distressing." It's a finishing technique that makes a piece appear to have attained the "patina of age," without looking worn out. The implication is that a fine piece can undergo dings, nicks, gouges, loss of finish, refinishing, etc and achieve a kind of dignity.

   Distressing is often achieved by actually physically abusing the piece and by applying paint in various ways. It's important to first completely finish scraping or sanding as though for an umblemished final finish. Then the wood is "damaged" (just slightly) by all manner of objects. Some finishers repeatedly thow a large key chain containing many differently shaped keys at the surface. Picks, gouges, files, screw drivers, pocket knives, chains, etc are all used to inflict random "aging" marks.

   Some finish is applied and more distressing is done. It's common to flick various colors of paint, using a toothbrush over which one rubs the thumb, full strength and diluted, oil-based, water-based. A paint brush is used with a flicking motion of the wrist to spatter various paints or finishes. Paint is applied in the usual manner using a dilute mixture.

   This process is done in "layers" or multiple steps, until the final effect is achieved. It can be done with taste and restraint or overdone miserably. It's an art form. I've seen very pleasing examples that were completely believable and others that were simply awful.

   Rich

1. 
   [email protected] | Jun 09, 2006 05:03pm | #5

   thank you-I'm going to print your response and plug it in with an article I found in FWW at #120. I guess I'll take it slow and try not to mess it up-or should I say mess it up correctly....

4. 
   EarlKelly | Jun 09, 2006 08:08pm | #6

   You've received some good advice, the main thing I would add, is work up one or more samples completely finished. The samples will help you become proficient and confident when you tackle the Ckt table.

   Furniture...the Art of a FurnitureMaker
5. 
   JMadson | Jun 10, 2006 10:09pm | #7

   I achieved a worn look on an island recently. Starting from the bare wood, I applied two coats of minwax jacobean stain. This is the darkest stain minwax makes. Then a layer of wipe-on poly to seal it and to prevent sanding through the stain in the subsequent steps.

   Then I applied, sparingly, paraffin wax in the spots where the most "wear" was desired; on the corners, under the handles, along the edges, etc.

   Then I applied a coat of latex paint.

   After this dried, you take rough sandpaper to the waxed spots and anywhere else that you might like to see the dark stain. The paint in the waxed areas will come off easily. Non-waxed areas will come off too but be careful not to go too deep.

   After this, a dark stain was applied and rubbed off - you could also use a gel stain. I actually wish I had applied another coat of poly before the stain. Reason being, wherever I sanded, the stain stuck too well and didn't want to wipe off. I had a hard time controlling this process.

   After this is done, put on a coat or two of a clear satin finish and you're done. This is a lot of steps but it turned out nice when I was done and the customer loved it.

   JM

   “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” – Albert Einstein

   
1. 
   KeithNewton | Jun 18, 2006 04:15am | #8

   Back in the mid 60s when I was a beginning woodworker, antiquing was becoming very popular, and there were some people around that thought you should beat it with a chain to distress it. I didn't think much of this, because, well it looked like it had ben beaten by a chain. The pattern was to regular, and not like natural wear over time would produce.I worked with some fellows back then that were pretty good at it, and the tool of choice for them was a broken piece of concrete about the size of a grapefruit. All around its sphere it will have a wide range of size, spacing and assortment of shapes of blunt and sharp aggregate. It can be used as a hammer, or scraped, or rolled, to produce a wide range of indentations and blemishes.Even when using this as a tool, you need to be mindful of how much to use it and where a certain piece of furniture would have gotten dinged over time, and not over-do-it. Also if it is done at different stages of the finishing like JMadson has described above, some of the dings will have a different color in them. The first ones will have the base coat, the second will have the glaze, and the last will be bare wood showing through.To my eye, it is best to use some restraint. rather than spend a lot of time building something, then beating the cra- out of it. Good Luck K

6. 
   WillGeorge | Jun 20, 2006 02:58am | #9

   a painted "worn look" on it..

   If ys live clost to me I'll send my Grandbabies over!

7. 
   Ricks503 | Jun 20, 2006 04:51pm | #10

   I will add in to look at DIYNET and TLC for info. 

   One technique is to put on a dark coat and lightly wipe off and smear it around on the piece and let dry, then put on the lighter coat and let dry. Next take some sandpaper and lightly sand edges and around some pulls (if any) to simulate where hands would rub and people (and animals) would brush up against the piece and wear it down over time.  A lot of the time these pieces are also distressed to a lesser or greater degree to simulate the dings and dents of normal use over time.

   1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go        4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
1. 
   Gretchen | Jun 21, 2006 03:31pm | #11

   My personal feeling about dents and dings is that it will look like it was done on purpose. But I think the "worn" look of wear of paint can be much more well done. I do have to say that I am offended when an antique dealer tries to pass off one of these as "old" however.  It can be very well done and be very attractive but real wear on an old piece is just beautiful.

   Gretchen

   Edited 6/21/2006 8:32 am ET by Gretchen