Grinding and wire-brushing

**NathanaelBC** · 14th February 2014, 09:07 AM

Went out to Thor's Hammer in Canberra the other weekend to look at recycled timber and looked at some timber that had been "ground and wire brushed" from rough sawn, rather than properly dressed.

Any ideas on the process? I took a heavy duty wire-brush mounted on my angle grinder to a plant container I'd made with Spotted Gum decking boards and it didn't do anything remotely like what the sample piece they showed me. Maybe rough sawn makes all the difference as it has "jutty outy bits" to grab and rip out.

(at least it did distress the wood a bit, though fairly unevenly, but better than the undesirable perfectly smooth surface it was)

Suggestions on how I might apply a similar rustic finish to finished wood?

**Ball Peen** · 14th February 2014, 09:31 AM

Why not just scrub plane everything and call it done? Hand sand with 240, no cork, just to knock off any fibers that remain.

**tea lady** · 14th February 2014, 09:41 AM

Maybe took off the dirt with the wire brush? Or old paint or something. Don't think it would make much or a dint in Spotty. Might also burnish the timber a bit so you would still need to sand so the finish would take.

For a sell I guess its a case of "looks good sells well"

**NathanaelBC** · 14th February 2014, 03:03 PM

This post has some relevant info, using a "wood grinding blade" and a slow-RPM nylon brush … I can't imagine nylon scratching the surface of spotted gum!

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/b...63/#post419869

**malb** · 14th February 2014, 06:08 PM

The method outlined in your link seems to come from continental US and relate to softwoods. They generally have more variation in seasonal hardness in the annual rings and grain structure than our hardwoods do. It therefore stands to reason that erosion techniques like sand blasting, flame erosion, brushing, or general aging/weathering would have more effect on the softwoods than hardwoods like spotty, the processes basically rely on removing the softer fibres while leaving the harder virtually untouched. A lot of the softwoods in the link also have fairly wide rings (rapid growth) while our hardwoods have narrow tight rings. This ensures that erosion techniques employed on softwoods have better access to the softer fibres between rings and produce more dramatic effects that they would with hardwoods.

**NathanaelBC** · 14th February 2014, 07:06 PM

Thanks, all makes sense, though I'm sure the guy at Thor's showed me a piece of Blackbutt they'd treated with the "ground and wire-brushed" treatment. Sand-blasting would be cool to try though, and they are on sale at the moment

http://www.crazysales.com.au/10-gall...d-blaster.html

**steamjunkprops** · 14th February 2014, 07:16 PM

Wire brush works well, I find a combination of chains, hammers and other steel things dent the wood up well and then I char parts with my butane torch. Finally followed by the grinder with a wire wheel. If I want to make it look older, a coat of 50/50 turps and bitumen and then a sand with the ros.

**NathanaelBC** · 14th February 2014, 07:56 PM

Makita 9741 Brush Sander:

http://youtu.be/FNUH1uchnS4?t=1m16s

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