Any ideas how to make this type of aged furniture ?

Hot Chop shop · Dec 1, 2013

So I have been seeing this type of reclaimed furniture in a few places and the wifey loves it and would let me actually (attempt) to make something for the inside the house. (Plus I'm running out of room in the garage for anymore stools/tables/benches)

Is it as simple as picking up the steel and only grinding off the mill scale on the areas where the welds are made then leaving the rest? Maybe putting some paste wax on it for shine and to help with rust prevention?

Anyone know how it is done to get that look? If there is a thread that has discussed this and you could point me that way I would appreciate it.
Thanks!

BJ42LX · Dec 1, 2013

Well, that's definitely unfinished steel from the mill. If you really don't want it to rust paint it with clear. Rustoleum and Krylon both offer clear in rattle cans.

If you're a good welder you may want to leave the welds unground, too.

Zeke · Dec 1, 2013

That doesn't look 'aged' to me. But the bare metal natural look can be achieved by heating the metal and wiping it down with boiled linseed oil or other finishing oils.

I let me metal rust, clean it with a power wire wheel, weld it up, rust the new work, clean again and oil. Nice dark, old finish.

Hot Chop shop · Dec 1, 2013

Hey thanks for the feedback... I wasn't sure the right name for it, reclaimed, modern, aged, bare steel... Wanted to see if it was a paint technique or possible a different kind of metal.

stinkity stoink · Dec 1, 2013

Nice table. Did you make it ?

tarbellb · Dec 1, 2013

That is just mill scale raw steel tube. And you pretty much nailed it for the technique to achieve that look.

Note that you will see the weld line on every tube, so consider orienting them to match/hide.
Grinding down the welds is just a cleaner look, but as mentioned earlier if you can do clean beads and they dont effect the function (ie scratch floor,etc..) then you could leave them.

I personally use rattle can to finish most my pieces. Several coats of Gloss and then followed up with 1-2 coats of Satin for less modern, glossy look.

Warning: make sure you check with you steel supplier about the finish, my supplier has two finishes with 16g and higher in a shiny silver vs what you posted. Heavy wall/gauge will typically have the dark mill scale.

DoghouseForge · Dec 1, 2013

Mr. Road built something like this a few months back. Im guessing hes pondering algorithms or is still napping from turkey consumption or he probably would have linked this himself.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=204752

Reguarding the wood, you can use new lumber if you dont have older patina already established. The photos you posted dont look old, they look faked (very well faked :thumbup:

). With new lumber, distress it (hammer blows, pointy obects, fire. etc), sand it back down to remove the freshness of the damage, and then age it with a special stain steel wool and vinegar stain.

take a small gallon size plastic buket with a lid. put 3/4 gal of white vinegar and a pack of 0000 steel wool. seal it and let it sit for a few days. Then test it on a scrap piece of lumber. If its not dark enough you can recoat or wait untill all the steel wool has dissolved to get the deepest color possible. You can also treat the clean weld areas on the steel with it to blend them but is looks like the table you want is built like Aggierailroads so you can leave it bare.

As mentioned before clear coat the steel when you finish and pay special attention to the base since you dont want it rusting onto your carpet or flooring.

Good luck, check out aggies build since its pretty much exactly what your looking for and post some pics when you finish!

JP

fivespdcat · Dec 1, 2013

Funny enough, I'm doing this to my kitchen with wood butcher block countertops. The wife really loves the distressed look.

I sanded the wood down, then hand planed it sort of haphazardly. After that, go wild with any sort of tools, nails, punches iron pipes, just damage the thing up to your liking and randomly. Now it's time for stain, I went with two different tones, a light and a dark. Apply the first layer and let it dry, then let the second layer and allow to soak, then liberally apply stain to gouged areas. Wipe off the excess and before the stain completely settles take your stain cloth and "rub off" some of the old previously applied stain. Do this randomly or where the most wear would happen, it removes the stain, but not completely. Wipe up any residual stain left behind then apply a poly coat. Depending on your wood/stain combo you may need to sand and reapply the stain. It was actually a lot of fun to do and the island looks great!

4EyedTurd · Dec 2, 2013

Looks good fivespdcat!! How many coats of poly did you use?

dvlscoupe · Dec 2, 2013

Any steel furniture I make I use clear powdercoat to seal it. I've also plaid wil oiling the metal to give it a worn/aged look but it can't be powdercoated because the offgas is to much.

fivespdcat · Dec 2, 2013

4EyedTurd said:
Looks good fivespdcat!! How many coats of poly did you use?

I put 5 light coats of satin finish poly on it. The countertops are not food safe, so a cutting board is still required which I'm satisfied with. I was more concerned with water resistance than food since I've never used my countertops bare to prepare food.

srmofo · Dec 2, 2013

Id seal it with something or every time you move/touch it your hands will be filthy

E.rodz · Dec 2, 2013

here is a little tip for you if you like this look or your boss likes it.lol.this is a black primer with a dry brushed copper over it then flat clear over that. and if you put the clear over it before the copper is dry the clear will wrinkle to give it a little more aged look.

the wood you can beat it up with a hammer then grind dimples in it and burn it with a torch then clear it or stain it.

dittle fart around · Dec 2, 2013

View media item 32905
Made this for the wife. Legs are from an old table saw, the upper 3" angle is from some industrial shelving and of course the top is refinished bowling alley. Bolted the legs on and the top just lays in place. Way too heavy to move upstairs assembled.

View media item 32719

Hot Chop shop · Dec 2, 2013

stinkity stoink said:
Nice table. Did you make it ?

No (not yet), The wifey found it on Pinterest... it's her version of Garage Journal.

tarbellb said:
That is just mill scale raw steel tube. And you pretty much nailed it for the technique to achieve that look.

Note that you will see the weld line on every tube, so consider orienting them to match/hide.
Grinding down the welds is just a cleaner look, but as mentioned earlier if you can do clean beads and they dont effect the function (ie scratch floor,etc..) then you could leave them.

I personally use rattle can to finish most my pieces. Several coats of Gloss and then followed up with 1-2 coats of Satin for less modern, glossy look.

Warning: make sure you check with you steel supplier about the finish, my supplier has two finishes with 16g and higher in a shiny silver vs what you posted. Heavy wall/gauge will typically have the dark mill scale.

Thanks for reminding me about about the weld line... I made that mistake on my last project (short version I made a receiver hitch into a welding table and had the weld line on ever corner went a different direction, making it a pain to notch a line in it, gave up and used a tension nut) and I know exactly what you mean with the shiney metal verses the darker mill scale, the metal supplier i go to is the same way the thicker material (.125) is dark.
no clean beads here :sad:

but working on it.

DoghouseForge said:
Mr. Road built something like this a few months back. Im guessing hes pondering algorithms or is still napping from turkey consumption or he probably would have linked this himself.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=204752

Reguarding the wood, you can use new lumber if you dont have older patina already established. The photos you posted dont look old, they look faked (very well faked ). With new lumber, distress it (hammer blows, pointy obects, fire. etc), sand it back down to remove the freshness of the damage, and then age it with a special stain steel wool and vinegar stain.

take a small gallon size plastic buket with a lid. put 3/4 gal of white vinegar and a pack of 0000 steel wool. seal it and let it sit for a few days. Then test it on a scrap piece of lumber. If its not dark enough you can recoat or wait untill all the steel wool has dissolved to get the deepest color possible. You can also treat the clean weld areas on the steel with it to blend them but is looks like the table you want is built like Aggierailroads so you can leave it bare.

As mentioned before clear coat the steel when you finish and pay special attention to the base since you dont want it rusting onto your carpet or flooring.

Good luck, check out aggies build since its pretty much exactly what your looking for and post some pics when you finish!

JP

That is just the thread I was looking for!
thanks so much for posting this :beer:

And also thanks for the wood tips.. I watched a bunch of youtube vids last night on how to make a butcher block piece.

fivespdcat said:
Funny enough, I'm doing this to my kitchen with wood butcher block countertops. The wife really loves the distressed look.

I sanded the wood down, then hand planed it sort of haphazardly. After that, go wild with any sort of tools, nails, punches iron pipes, just damage the thing up to your liking and randomly. Now it's time for stain, I went with two different tones, a light and a dark. Apply the first layer and let it dry, then let the second layer and allow to soak, then liberally apply stain to gouged areas. Wipe off the excess and before the stain completely settles take your stain cloth and "rub off" some of the old previously applied stain. Do this randomly or where the most wear would happen, it removes the stain, but not completely. Wipe up any residual stain left behind then apply a poly coat. Depending on your wood/stain combo you may need to sand and reapply the stain. It was actually a lot of fun to do and the island looks great!

That kitchen looks great! (I will make sure to not show that pic to my wife... she would love it... one project at a time.)

dvlscoupe said:
Any steel furniture I make I use clear powdercoat to seal it. I've also plaid wil oiling the metal to give it a worn/aged look but it can't be powdercoated because the offgas is to much.

The wife doesn't allow me to powdercoat... something about how it ruins her oven and poisons your food the next time you cook with it. :dunno:

srmofo said:
Id seal it with something or every time you move/touch it your hands will be filthy

I wonder if I wipe it good with denatured alcohol then seal it paste wax if it would be clean enough for indoors? since I don't have too much humidity around here, I don't see a rust issue.

dittle fart around said:
View media item 32905
Made this for the wife. Legs are from an old table saw, the upper 3" angle is from some industrial shelving and of course the top is refinished bowling alley. Bolted the legs on and the top just lays in place. Way too heavy to move upstairs assembled.

View media item 32719

Looks great :thumbup:

I have look for a slab of bowling alley lane for a long time to make a bench for the garage and never had any luck I'm starting to think they are like a mythical creature.

Hot Chop shop · Dec 2, 2013

E.rodz said:
here is a little tip for you if you like this look or your boss likes it.lol.this is a black primer with a dry brushed copper over it then flat clear over that. and if you put the clear over it before the copper is dry the clear will wrinkle to give it a little more aged look.

the wood you can beat it up with a hammer then grind dimples in it and burn it with a torch then clear it or stain it.

That looks great :thumbup:

Going to have to try that out.

dittle fart around · Dec 2, 2013

srmofo said:
Id seal it with something or every time you move/touch it your hands will be filthy

I just sanded the loose rust off and coated the metal with spray polyurethane.

View media item 32718

aggierailroad · Dec 3, 2013

DoghouseForge said:
Mr. Road built something like this a few months back. Im guessing hes pondering algorithms or is still napping from turkey consumption or he probably would have linked this himself.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=204752
JP

LOL man, that's good stuff. I've been slacking lately on here.. :beer:

As for the OP, yes, it is a simple as just putting a little bevel and welding it up. To be honest... now that the cat's out of the bag, I would have left the welds raw, but I boogered one up, it looked like chicken doo doo, so I had to grind them all. Regarding the welded seams, I used solid bar stock from the used metal side of the store. You'll get sharper corners and no seams, something that would benefit that design you posted (in my opinion) because of the sharp wooden edges.

Aging wood is a mystery, I like the vinegar technique, leave it out in the sun to tan it, and use traditional tools to flatten it, like maybe a hand plane with the blade slightly skewed? Chains, hammers, and nails seem to be the norm. It does look like that top is smooth, and just has a yellow tinged shellac on it, which really highlights the walnut.

Good luck, let us know if you have any questions.

Hot Chop shop · Dec 3, 2013

aggierailroad said:
LOL man, that's good stuff. I've been slacking lately on here..

As for the OP, yes, it is a simple as just putting a little bevel and welding it up. To be honest... now that the cat's out of the bag, I would have left the welds raw, but I boogered one up, it looked like chicken doo doo, so I had to grind them all. Regarding the welded seams, I used solid bar stock from the used metal side of the store. You'll get sharper corners and no seams, something that would benefit that design you posted (in my opinion) because of the sharp wooden edges.

Aging wood is a mystery, I like the vinegar technique, leave it out in the sun to tan it, and use traditional tools to flatten it, like maybe a hand plane with the blade slightly skewed? Chains, hammers, and nails seem to be the norm. It does look like that top is smooth, and just has a yellow tinged shellac on it, which really highlights the walnut.

Good luck, let us know if you have any questions.

Well since you asked for questions I have one...

I just picked up the metal today and I am planning out my cuts and I was curious if I weld the plate/covers over the tubing last or first? Hope that makes sense? I understand there is a blow out term so to fix that I drill holes at the bottom of the tube so it really shouldn't matter?

Thanks!

aggierailroad · Dec 4, 2013

I don't think it matters either way. If it was me, I'd do them last, just because I'd want them to sit perfectly flat on my tables when I did the mitered welds. A small, 1/8" hole should be fine on the bottom.

I think I'm going to be making one of these for myself.. Been searching for a new design for a long time to match the style of my current table but be different. (sorry for ripping you off!) How are you attaching the wood? I'm thinking of welding in some 1/2" or 3/8" square rod in an X and cutting dados in the wood for it to sit in.

Thoughts?

Hot Chop shop · Dec 4, 2013

aggierailroad said:
I don't think it matters either way. If it was me, I'd do them last, just because I'd want them to sit perfectly flat on my tables when I did the mitered welds. A small, 1/8" hole should be fine on the bottom.

I think I'm going to be making one of these for myself.. Been searching for a new design for a long time to match the style of my current table but be different. (sorry for ripping you off!) How are you attaching the wood? I'm thinking of welding in some 1/2" or 3/8" square rod in an X and cutting dados in the wood for it to sit in.

Thoughts?

((Hey you're not ripping me off! I wish I knew the site to give the guy credit for his design so that in case he is a GJ member he doesn't kill me))

That's funny this is my first attempt at wood... And I have been thinking how to attach it... I thought I could get away with welding 1inch tabs for the wood to sit on at level and drill holes in the tab and screw in it from underneath where it can't be seen... Or your way sounds good too just gotta google "dados" so I know what it is.

Post your pics when done.
Thanks!

03protege · Dec 4, 2013

It looks like you got some pretty good advice here, I also would weld tabs for the wood to rest on and screw up from the bottom.

The mill scale could cause your clear to not adhere all that well but for this application I don't think it would matter too much.

ZRX61 · Dec 4, 2013

MetalMeet has an entire forum dedicated to making patinas for metal....

trainman1385 · Dec 4, 2013

If you are looking to enhance the distressed look of the wood use a gel stain, it will really make the distressing pop. Probably the coolest kitchen I did while working at a cabinet shop was one we distressed by taking old screws, bolts and metal tools and smacking them into the wood and then staining them, we also used knotty alder.

Hot Chop shop · Dec 4, 2013

trainman1385 said:
If you are looking to enhance the distressed look of the wood use a gel stain, it will really make the distressing pop. Probably the coolest kitchen I did while working at a cabinet shop was one we distressed by taking old screws, bolts and metal tools and smacking them into the wood and then staining them, we also used knotty alder.

Well glad you said knotty alder... Cause I went to the lumber place today and had no clue what I was doing and l explained the project and my skill set with wood (or lack of) and the guy in the warehouse said I didn't want the $8 square foot black walnut which I was thinking about and said the alder was a 1/3 of the price and would stain up nice.

aggierailroad · Dec 4, 2013

you'll want the S4S or S3S depending on what kind of tools you have... Hope you got what you wanted. BTW, $8 a board foot is cheap for walnut... I payed almost double that for mine. The spalted maple around here is close to $50 a foot...

Hot Chop shop · Dec 5, 2013

aggierailroad said:
you'll want the S4S or S3S depending on what kind of tools you have... Hope you got what you wanted. BTW, $8 a board foot is cheap for walnut... I payed almost double that for mine. The spalted maple around here is close to $50 a foot...

I googled s4s and s3s... And once again watched several video online regarding wood working... Once again I figured out I am way over my head so this should be fun...?
I "plane" the edge gluing the boards together then use 500 pipe clamps i make sure it sits flat let dry... Cut to size then sand, stain... Then beat it and distress it then sand stain seal ?

aggierailroad · Dec 7, 2013

Tell ya what, go to the blog link in my sig. It's a bit more in depth than my posts and should explain a lot. Any questions after that, I'm always around!

Hot Chop shop · Dec 9, 2013

aggierailroad said:
Tell ya what, go to the blog link in my sig. It's a bit more in depth than my posts and should explain a lot. Any questions after that, I'm always around!

That blog is great. Just the information I was looking for. Thanks!

Any ideas how to make this type of aged furniture ?

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