New Wood Old Wood

Finding aged barn wood would be the best of course but here is what I have done that produces at least a rustic look.

I take a rough lumber board (a board that hasn't been planed or finished) cut out the pieces I need for the project I'm doing ..... habitat base ect. Then I take each piece and with a wire wheel on a bench grinder work the grain in a way that some of the soft grain is removed between the harder grain. This gives it somewhat of a weathered texture. Then I take whatever color paint I want it to be to match the look of the piece with the mount on it (usually 2 or 3 colors are applied in different steps) and spray a light coat to the piece. Don't make it an even coat throughout....make it splotchy...dark to light.

Once this is done take steel wool or a drywall pad (simular to a scoth-brite pad but courser) and remove the paint to the point it doesn't look painted but weathered. Basically like antiqueing a repro fish blank.

You can kinda play around with this to get it to your liking. Then assemble the base and do any touch up.

This will not be like the actual weathered and aged wood but you can come up with some unique looking pieces that are simular.

My 2 cents worth ..... good luck

 

Oh...and carolina.....once you are finished with the antiqueing and weathering to your liking.......you can give it a good coat of urethane to seal it and this will really bring out the colors.

Hope this is of some help.

 

sand blast it..

 

Lee, If you sand blast it...won't that just bring out a new, clean look on the wood? Course you could still antique wash it like Lone Wolf suggested, but I like to tumble em in rocks and hit em with a hammer...I think one of the best things for a weathered look is adding a strand of Rusted Barbed Wire...try it with pheasants.

 

sand blasting is good makes it look weather beaten..

 

Sand blasting does indeed do a fine job......BUT.....everyone does not have access to a sand blaster. Sometimes we overthink things that can be achieved in very quick and simple manners. We are not building the space shuttle here.

 

hey you must be on a different planet. i'm talking about a sand blaster not the next nasa project. ;D.

 

Very true lee....

 

Another hint is,,,,after sandblasting (you can buy a little cheap on at home depot) spray the wood all over with clorox bleach and lay it out in the sun. Repeat till you get the bleached out look you could be looking for.

Boxie

 

another way is to hit it with a propane torch, some areas more than others until its covered. than take a stiff wire brush to it, and scrape out the charred parts, than rinse with water, let dry. Mix oxolic acid with water, and brush on- just follow the directions on the bottle- and it will look great.

 

All I use is a simple wire wheel attachment mounted on my drill. Soft pine wood with lots of knots will look really nice when it's treated this way.
After the soft part of the wood is bushed away it will look very much like old, weathered wood except that it will be bright and new colored.
I stain it with Minwax penetrating oil stain #2126 ("Driftwood") and sometimes tint it slightly with a mist of Paynes gray or brown if I want a different shade.

The wood panel under these birds is just a common piece of pine shelf lumber that has been wire brushed and then stained with the Driftwood color.




Oops. Sorry. I didn't realize that photo was so big! :-[

 

I can usually find fence stakes at home depot that have a weathered look. They usually keep some laying in pallets outside and the ones on top are almost always weathered. But they are only 4" x 1/2". Wire wheel and driftwood stain works for larger pieces.

 

Seems I remember reading a how-to article in a model railroad magazine suggesting the use of diluted India ink to bring about the 'gray' color of weathered wood.

Just another idea.

(Great mount Nancy!)