adding weathered patina to timber, is it possible?

[TomP]

Hi all,

Im making a shop sign for work, my boss would like the sign to have a weathered or aged look to the wood. is there a way i can do this reasonably simply or would it take more effort than its worth to achieve a satisfactory look?

Thanks

Tom

 

[morturn]

Painter or varnished? Vinegar and wire wool will give you an aged look on bare timber.

 

[custard]

Weathered or the patination of antique furniture? They're different.

For a shop sign I'd lightly distress the piece then use some well thinned grey paint which is then immediately wiped off leaving a residue in the pores, nooks, and crannies.

 

[AJB Temple]

Or a crackled paint finish.

 

[TomP]

they want it to look like un finished timer that has aged over time, if that helps

 

[Beau]

Maybe sand blast it? Seen pics of this and it's very striking

 

[custard]

they want it to look like un finished timer that has aged over time, if that helps

They won't have to wait long, most timber is well on the way to silvery grey in a year.

A very knowledgeable poster on this forum came up with an interesting theory, he said completely unfinished timber ages beautiful outside. But timber with teak oil or similar finishes last a year or two and then look terrible for two or three years, and then finally become beautiful. His theory was that bugs eat the teal oil, break it down and turn the wood green. But eventually all their food is consumed, they die, and the wood then ages naturally.

Long winded way of saying less is more, do nothing and be patient.

 

[RobinBHM]

Sioo?

http://www.silvatimber.co.uk/wood-care/ ... ution.html

 

[nev]

Some possible hints contained in these old posts

post782348.html

post827686.html

 

[mooed]

Unfinished timber that looks weathered? If you aren't bothered about the wood type, rather than making it look like that you could try looking in skips around you and find some really distressed wood.

 

[ED65]

they want it to look like un finished timer that has aged over time, if that helps

I think a multi-step process gives the best (most convincing) results if you're starting with fresh wood. First texture the surface, next turn the wood grey, then get the recesses darker/dirty looking. This is one of the standard routes used by miniaturists, who can make even something as characterless as white plastic look just like aged wood.

You can texture the wood in various ways, e.g. using a wire brush, a wire wheel in a drill, sandblasting, rubbing with coarse steel wool, or some combination of those, depending on the species and the level of texture you desire.

Greying the wood can be done with commercial grey stains, a steel 'n' vinegar solution (you might need to treat the wood with a tannic solution to get the colour you want or to get it uniform, depending on species) or using paint.

Final step is a dark or grungy wash (very heavily diluted paint), which is usually brushed on liberally and then the excess wiped away with a clean cloth.

You can take the effect way further but done well just these three steps can give a really good effect in relatively short order, certainly good enough for viewing at a distance.

 

[TomP]

Hi,

in the end i tried a black spray paint and dye to get the finish, I think it came out alright for a first attempt. Theres an unfinished piece of timber below it for a comparison

https://flic.kr/p/QaRtpL

 

[woodpig]

Maybe sand blast it? Seen pics of this and it's very striking

That's what I'd do, but then I do happen to have a sand blaster! :lol:

 

[Jacob]

Quick and easy is to go over the surface with a blow lamp and brush off the burnt bits. You can get all sorts of paint textures on top due to cracks and crazed surface, etc.

 

[TomP]

I'll try the blow lamp next time, think would of been more subtle if i used darker dye, but they preferred it light so have to do what the boss wants. Think it was izzy swans video he showed the method on i used. He uses stain in his video, i asked or stain but got bought dye (probably would of worked better with stain).