Thread: Distressed Finish

Peter, I am trying to achieve the distressed old look too. Just by trial and error I have had some limited success. First I LIGHTLY/GENTLY burn some parts of the grain and knots with an oxy torch to bring the grain out and stain the timber with desired colour. When finished staining, dint and mark the timber. You can use lots of different objects for this but my favourite is to hammer a horse shoe nail held on it's side. Finish off with bees wax which will make the damaged spots darker when it fills the holes a little bit. I am still looking for the right colour stain and want to find a coloured bees wax? Some more experimenting to come. Regards, Vid.

Hi Peter. We produce a book "A Polishers Handbook" which helps you with many and varied finishing techniques, this will be expanded over the next 6 mth to include distressed finishes. To my knowledge there are no courses available for this finish although we do run finishing courses that are structured around the individual, so this could be done. However for the moment you might like to experiment with this.

This is for a pine surface:
Distress the timber by hitting it with lengths of heavy chain, If you can get access to a split flap sander, sand using this up to 320 grit (always going with the grain) this will bring out a subtle raised grain affect, add a few burn marks around the edges with either cigarettes or red-hot metal rod. (the fags are more natural.) Give the whole surface a coat of very weak shellac (standard mix cut to 1 part shellac to 8 parts meth) then apply a coat of Feast Watson's Black Japan. Wipe off excess whilst still wet. Allow the lot to dry then give the whole thing a rub back with 0000 steel wool this should leave you with a surface that has a dark honey colour with darker patches in the distressing. (if too dark use a little turpentine on a rag to lighten and even out the colour) When all is dry, apply a couple of even coats of shellac (half strength) and when dry apply a coat of our Walnut Traditional Wax using 0000 steel wool, allow to sit for 5 minutes and buff to a dry sheen using a clean soft rag.

That's about it. You could substitute a lacquer or other finish for the final coats of shellac if you wish. The Walnut Traditional Wax is being used by a number of finishers to give a dirty looking build on and around mouldings etc. It is mainly used over polyurethane and lacquers.

Hope this helps a little.
Neil Ellis

G'Day Neil,

Thank you for your response to my request. I will go and get a copy of your book this week. I will also be very interested to get the update later this year. Thanks.....

P.S. Thanks also to Vid for some useful info.

Hi Peter. When you age the piece, try to avoid beating it all over up with hammers, chains, bits of wood with nails sticking out or whatever. What you end up is a piece of furniture that looks like it has been beaten with above mentioned items, thats great if thats the look you want. But I would suggest that you try to imitate the wear, dings and scratches that occur in a "normal" way, in the areas where damage "normally" occurs. Repetition makes an obvious fake. Course abrasive paper used to soften the edges assists in the old look. Have fun

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hi mate...glad to see you love that old look...i use black japan to give the aged look, i have tryed every other stain but they all look fake, black japan gives the old traditional antique look and you'd swear your furniture was 100 yrs old...there is an other product called vandyke, but have'nt tryed it, supposed to be could though...

Stick it in a young childs room and tell them that its a play item... shouldnt take long!

Originally Posted by peter

Can anyone suggest a good book, course or page on the web to find out information on giving timber that old distressed look. I am looking for not just how to beat up the timber but what stain/finish to use to make timber look old. Hope someone out there can help.

P.S. I think this is a great Bulletin Board and I thanks for the service.

Why not use old distressed timber??

Al

Latest issue of Australian Wood Review has an article on ageing, staining and finishing a pine and cedar table.

Buy your timber from Bunnings.

Can black japan also be called 'bitumen'. I was at the Maleny wood show and saw a finish that I liked, and the guy said he wiped on bitumen first, then two coats of lacquer, followed up by wax. I wondered what he meant by bitumen, and maybe it was black japan. Am yet to go into bunnings and ask 'do you sell bitumen'?

michaelvass - YES!

WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE ANSWERING A 6 YEAR OLD POST LIKE IT'S A NEW ONE??????

To my knowledge there are no courses available for this finish although

This is distressing news.

i was thinking the same thing but didn't want to offend

Originally Posted by ubeaut

WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE ANSWERING A6 YEAR OLD POST LIKE IT'S A NEW ONE??????

They must have done a search???

P