reclaimed wood furniture

[davin]

Hello all.

Have been asked to price up for some furniture, big table and benches for ten people.
They want a reclaimed driftwood look. Not worried about the construction so much, but the "look".
How do I get fresh timber to look, well reclaimed.
Don't want to put old timber through my machines if I can help it.
Very affluent customers, loads more work if I get this right,

,

Thanks in advance

davin

 

[marcros]

There are various means of distressing- making fake worm holes, dents made with chain, rounding corners and wearing surfaces etc etc. drift wood faking is another level though which I think is achieved through sand blasting the wood.

 

[Glynne]

Driftwood is essentially wood that has been bleached (sun and salt water) and abraded by rocks and sand. So probably try and recreate the effect by: -

Machine the timber initially - to save your machinery!
A dilute mixture of hydrogen peroxide (i.e. oxidising agent) to create the greyish colour.
Sand blast to create a weather effect.

If your customers are affluent, the sand blasting shouldn't prove too much of an overhead and will probably add that bit extra to your portfolio.

I'm guessing that they want a reclaimed driftwood effect rather than having real driftwood, so you will have the opportunity to tailor how rustic (or should that be nautical) the wood actually is.

I would be really interested to see how your project progresses?

Glynne

 

[No skills]

'sand' blasting will give you texture - if your doing the blasting yourself then you might have to try some different medias to get the effect you want, different sands/glass beads etc etc Have a look round on the net, theres probably a forum for it somewhere

 

[WillRiseley]

blasting would be under £50 at a local place if its all ready for them to do there thing. Again bleaching is easy to do with either peroxide (dont get tempted to do your hair though) or lemon juice and being put in the sun or under uv lights.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Scorching before grit blasting or wire brushing is another technique.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

Hi Davin, I find most artificially distressed furniture looks contrived unless it is done really well. All of the methods mentioned above can and will work but you must take great care with scorching and sand blasting, not to go too far. One of the best timbers to use for creating worn finishes is Brown Oak, it has so many faults in it and colour variations it gives you a head start with the distressing.

 

[davin]

Thanks for all your helpful replies.
Will keep you updated .
Did think about using thermowood (heat treated timber), which is the same brown colour throughout. But could only find external products here in the UK.
My only concern in using reclaimed timber is the dryness of the wood. The table is going into a new house, large kitchen with skylights above ( to highlight mistake!), and a tiled floor with underfloor heating.
It's not only the table getting distressed !

Davin

 

[custard]

This is an interesting post, and it's gratifying to hear about customers requesting a "driftwood" look as that's an effect I've been pursuing for several years. Here's a few things I've found work for me,

1. Two part bleach is the only bleach that gives me the effect I want. I tend to use it for shorter times than recommended, but then again I'm generally working with lighter timbers to begin with so I'm only using it to knock back the colour a shade and to remove the yellow/orange cast that most woods have to some degree. Don't neutralise two part bleach with vinegar if you're using poly/acrylic finishes, just wash down with plain water.

2. Avoid any oil or varnish finish like the plague, they give a yellow or orange tint to the wood which is something I'm trying to avoid at all costs. I don't have spray facilities and I use either a thin coat of bleached shellac or a matt poly/acrylic water based finish for surfaces that need more protection. Both of these routes preserve that pale bleached look without any yellowing.

3. When I'm arranging boards I often try and include a thin sapwood band on mating surfaces. Besides giving an almost invisible glue line that makes the individual boards look twice as wide, it also looks like "surfer's hair" with bleached out streaks amidst blonde hair...it's a pretty effective way of giving a "coastal/summer" look to furniture. By the way, oak, elm, and olive ash are my favourite woods for this effect.

4. I try for a matt effect with the tiniest hint of sheen. That's easy enough with shellac but harder with acrylic. Even though water based acrylic dries fast it still takes a couple of days to really harden off, and if you use too much pressure too soon (even with a tack rag) you can burnish the surface to a satin effect which is too glossy for my tastes.

5. I use a sanding sealer on open grain timbers otherwise I can't get the smoothness of driftwood. I realise many people avoid sanding sealers on surfaces that are exposed to wear, but I've had table tops that have stood up to six or seven years of family life with this procedure and no problems so far. To get the smoothness I want I'll often sand down to 600 grit, which would be pointless on an open grained timber with sanding sealer. In the future I'm going to experiment with natural edge timbers, and I'm planning on wire brushing the edges which I believe was the George Nakashima approach, apart from this I'd avoid any attempts at distressing.

6. I've experimented many times with liming to try and get a slightly salt encrusted look, but despite using all the usual formulas I've never been even remotely successful, it always ends up looking either contrived or just plain nasty! If you find any liming technique that works better please let me know!

Best of luck.