Your favorite wood distressing technique

[03protege]

As the title says what are your best tips and tricks?

I saw an awesome looking something or other on here but forgot to bookmark it and now I can't find it.

For color:
-Steel wool and vinegar - Rust
-fire
-different stains

For texture:
-Pretty much beating it with whatever you can find; chains, tools and the like
-Think hairbrush of nails through a board to make the apearnce of worms eating the wood.
-Random gouges
Taking off edges of boards

Any pictures to compliment your suggestions would be great. I am looking to build a coffee table with a wood top and iron legs.

 

[Cryptic1911]

They won't have any info, but there's a lot of cool stuff to look at on http://shop.retro.net

 

[rlitman]

Put steel wool in some water with a few crushed aspirins. Give it a few months to soak, and eventually you end up with a nice black stain.

 

[jabberwoki]

Sandblasting then bleach. The piece will look like it was washed up on the beach.

 

[BWS]

Got a job coming up on a $$$ fr porch.

The rafters are exposed laminated SYP.Once glued up/and "edged",we'll surface the sides with a chainsaw.

Lay the wood/beams/rafters on a pr of sawhorses.The bar of saw is laid flat on wood.We just lightly drag it along the surface....putting on whatever level of texture required.

 

[geologist]

Soak your boards in a bath tub for a couple of hours and then hit them with a torch lightly, then use a wide wire wheel on a drill or a firm wire brush to remove the lightly charred surface in the direction of the grain. This will leave ridges because of the different hardness between the grain. Some guys don't soak their boards, and that's fine... but I do because it helps control what gets removed.

You can age smaller boards by tossing them in a concrete mixer with some sand and gravel. It will knock the edges down and leave weathered looking gouges and dings. If you want wormholes, smaller needle scalers work pretty well.

 

[dadsEH]

I wanted to 'weather' a few bits of pine board to make an old shingle sign.
cut random 'v' slots in the end of the board to give it that rotted look, dusted with grey acrylic primer all over and roughed up the surface along the grain with a wire brush.
came out looking real old.

 

[RivennHewn]

I just finished a piece that I textured with my HF mini needle scaler.

Took a while getting a look I liked, but I came up with something I've never seen before.

 

[ZRX61]

I just have my ex-wife look at it.

 

[geologist]

I just have my ex-wife look at it.

Be sure and tell em' Large Marge looked at your wood!

 

[E.rodz]

that many post and no pictures? 4" grinder, a draw knife which can still be purchased from menards by the way, a torch and a hammer used on my garage front here are a couple of picts.

 

[Tucko]

that many post and no pictures? 4" grinder, a draw knife which can still be purchased from menards by the way, a torch and a hammer used on my garage front here are a couple of picts.

WOW. That came out great. Good work, my man. Good work.

 

[Lotek]

Send it here, three Macaws, no waiting. One of them chewed through a 2x4 in his cage, dummy was standing on the wrong end, did a Wiley Coyote.

As a finishing touch, a toothbrush dipped in black paint with the bristles flicked to lightly spatter the piece, drink rings, cigarette burns, chains, etc, depends on the look you want.