Instant "character"?

Just sitting on the verandah waiting for paint to dry, reading the current issue of FWW and I came across this ad.

Attachment 409538

At first I was horrified at the thought and then I noticed the (very flattering?) example in the ad and now I am really intrigued. Ideas for furniture, picture frames etc starting flying around inside my head. I googled Varathane in Australia and now know that Rustoleum are the Australian agents(?)/distributors and will contact them to see if they are/will stock it.
If I can get my hands on some, I'll give it a go and report back...

fletty

PS, I have no connection whatsoever with Varathane nor Rustoleum but I like the idea of another creative finish being available to us.

At first quick glance I thought you were referring to turning the new shed into a look alike of the add pic.

Going for that rustic look on new wood??? Or making old look older still??

I'll be very interested to know if you can source some.

Thanks for the heads up.
Arron

It's on the same shelf as the Elbow Grease.

Rather than instant weathering, I'd like a can of instant patina to add to furniture. One antique reproducer used to do it here, but he wouldn't pass on all the secrets. He'd just say it was a bit of this, a bit of that and other concoctions too dangerous to reveal. He did however say you had to study hard to add the bruises and dings in just the right place.

One trick to add a weathered look I think was to use a concoction of a bright steel nail dissolved in vinegar, wiped on and washed off.

It would be interesting to try to reproduce Old Barn onto a new cabinet.

Id imagine it would involve sand blasting, UV lamps, splashes of acid, some Magic Sauce made of nails steel wool and vinegar, followed by Dirt of Backyard liberally ground in and finally some casual abuse from a lump of wood with some barbed wire wrapped around it (a-la Lucielle!).

I beleive the technique is called Relicing (relic-ing).

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Originally Posted by woodPixel

It would be interesting to try to reproduce Old Barn onto a new cabinet.

Id imagine it would involve sand blasting, UV lamps, splashes of acid, some Magic Sauce made of nails steel wool and vinegar, followed by Dirt of Backyard liberally ground in and finally some casual abuse from a lump of wood with some barbed wire wrapped around it (a-la Lucielle!).

I beleive the technique is called Relicing (relic-ing).

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Does anyone else remember the episode of 'Steptoe and Son' where Harold comes home to find his father shooting a shotgun at furniture to create borer holes?

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Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Rather than instant weathering, I'd like a can of instant patina to add to furniture. One antique reproducer used to do it here, but he wouldn't pass on all the secrets. He'd just say it was a bit of this, a bit of that and other concoctions too dangerous to reveal. He did however say you had to study hard to add the bruises and dings in just the right place.

One trick to add a weathered look I think was to use a concoction of a bright steel nail dissolved in vinegar, wiped on and washed off.

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I've altered a few real antique Chinese desks into computer desks....

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f11/ih...ht=fletty+ihan

.... and this has required the 'controlled and premature ageing' of the new bits to match the old. The first thing that I learned is that it doesn't work unless the new bits are made perfectly because the ageing and damage process must be added to, or subtracted from, a good base or it it looks truly aweful. MY tools of abuse include 3 jars of different strengths of steel wool dissolved in vinegar, black india ink, a bow pen compass (to draw incomplete cup circles), red wine, 2 different broken bricks, chain and a hammer with which to hit it, 2 pieces of galvanise steel pipe with different coloured splotches of house paint on them (to be drawn over edges) and pretty much anything else that came to hand. However, what really ties it all together is the final treatment which is a very dark/black wax which is rubbed on and polished off but always leaving it thicker in areas that would have less wear, against ledges, on horizontal surfaces close to vertical ones etc. I found the best way to do this (in my case) is to sit at the desk and polish off the wax that can be reached comfortably. It is also a process to be done a little at a time and then stand back at look. It is a very satisfying process.

fletty

I remember one of Wouldwoods said ageing techniques was to spritz the cabinet with diluted horsesauce and let the dogs at it to lick it off. :doh:

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Originally Posted by Fuzzie

I remember one of Wouldwoods said ageing techniques was to spritz the cabinet with diluted horsesauce and let the dogs at it to lick it off. :doh:

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Gosh I miss his threads, that mulberry cabinet of his, was just the most beautiful piece of furniture I have EVER seen!

PS, I hope you are safe and dry Fuzz?

Iron acetate stain = as old as the hills. Take a liter of vinegar and add 1 bun of fine steel wool.
In a couple of weeks, the iron dissolves in the vinegar and you have a solution of iron acetate.
Works well to darken pale woods which have a lot of tannin, such as the true oaks (Quercus sp).
Ammonia fuming does just as well.

Anyway, if the pale-colored wood doesn't have much tannin, such as birch (Betula sp.), you can
brew up some strong black tea for the tannin and give the wood a wash-down. When that dries,
paint on the iron acetate. Rinse the wood tomorrow. The smell of vinegar doesn't last more than a few days.

Me? I've done with the tea treatment on birch. I don't like the result. Just makes the wood look dirty.
The distinct gray of weathered wood has to do with both leaching and air in the surface wood cells.

The quickest way would be head north to where the floods are and sink it till it recedes allow sun to dry off it should would look distressed.

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Originally Posted by fletty

I hope you are safe and dry Fuzz?

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Thanks Fletty! We are high and dry here thankfully. Damage all around though. It looks like just about everybody on the East Coast copped something! I hope all our members (and the rest) are safe.

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Originally Posted by fletty

Attachment 409538

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Hmmmm. :think: Looking at the pic of the cabinet at the lower right, it kinda reminds me of a 30 year old person I saw recently that had had their hair bottle-greyed. That is, it looked good, but easily seen as fake.

We shall await your report!

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Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

..... it kinda reminds me of a 30 year old person I saw recently that had had their hair bottle-greyed. That is, it looked good, but easily seen as fake.

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Ahhh, I thought you hadn't seen me!