Aged wood products. How to artificially age a tree with your own hands - a master class with photos and videos. The ideal way to age if the furniture is made of
Despite the variety of glossy facades, antique wood interior elements remain in demand. The purchase of such furniture will cost a pretty penny. In the case when you don’t really want to spend money, you should not refuse the idea of \u200b\u200bhaving an aged chest of drawers or a table. You can try to age the furniture yourself. Let's try to figure out what technology is used to process semi-antique wood with our own hands. After all, natural conditions age the tree long years. And to get the result quickly, you have to age the tree artificially.
You will not find semi-antique furniture in every home. It should be used where appropriate. The design of the room should be thought out in the appropriate style so that antique products look decent.
Usually, the tree aging procedure is performed for a specific purpose, namely:
- Satisfy the taste of the dwellers.
- Save money on antiques. Much cheaper to buy inexpensive furniture and age artificially.
Using certain methods of aging wood, you can get exclusive things. Both the entire product and its individual parts are processed. Special attention should be given to items such as chests of drawers, sideboards, book shelves, mirror frames. They are most often aged, since it is difficult to imagine a vintage-style interior without these items.
Aging methods
The process of processing semi-antique wood with your own hands is carried out in several ways. The main ones are:
- Chemical processing- used for hardwoods.
- Roasting or heat treatment- universal option.
- Machining or brushing- this way you can process products made of oak or needles.
Furniture for aging is selected massive, with a rough texture, so that outwardly it resembles hand-made objects of past centuries. Before processing, it is better to disassemble the furniture into individual parts. This will make it possible to process even hard-to-reach places.
To facilitate the achievement of the effect of aging wood, it is better to purchase material that is already damaged by a bug, with minor chips, cracks and knots.
If the process of aging a tree with your own hands is performed for the first time, then it is better to practice a little on separate unnecessary bars. The quality of the result depends on how well the solution, stain or varnish is applied. It is recommended to work on outdoors so as not to harm your own health.
How to make new boards or furniture look like old products? Now you know that several techniques are used for these purposes. Let's consider each of them in more detail.
Mechanical restoration
It is possible to age a tree mechanically in products from such species as pine, spruce, larch. It is these types of wood that have a pronounced texture, the presence of layers of fibers with varying degrees hardness.
The main task during machining is the formation of various kinds of chips, potholes, cracks in an artificial way. You can achieve this by doing the following:
1. Wooden surfaces are processed with an ax or a special grinder. Potholes of various depths and widths are randomly applied to them. The bar is hewn, while you should not achieve special accuracy and symmetry.
2. After that, we proceed to grinding the surface with a brush with metal bristles. It will be easier to do this with a grinder and an appropriate nozzle. During processing, sanding is carried out along the grain until the inflicted potholes and chips take the form of naturally formed defects on the wood.
3. Then we move on to the second degree of grinding. At this stage, we work with a brush with soft bristles and sandpaper. During this treatment, soft fibers are removed, and coarser ones remain. Thus, we get an uneven tree structure. In the same way, you can additionally highlight knots and cracks.
4. At the next stage, we work on the color of the wood. It is necessary to bring the light new wood as close as possible to the shade of the board darkened from old age. Here you can apply stain or dark shade acrylic based paint.
5. When the applied product is completely dry, we process the surface with fine-grained sandpaper. At the same time, we try to perform all actions carefully. The paint must be removed from the hills and ridges, and it remains in the potholes.
6. At the final stage, we open the treated surface with a colorless or light yellow varnish and dry it completely.
On the video: a method of mechanical aging of a wooden board.
As for the question of how to age wood on small items such as small items furniture or wooden utensils, then the process is a little simplified here. The surface to be treated is thoroughly cleaned with a brush from wood dust until the desired effect is achieved. The subsequent staining and opening with varnish is identical to the process described earlier.
Brushing should only be done by hand using a metal bristle brush until small dents and ridges are achieved.
Heat treatment
Wood can be aged by heat treatment. A feature of this method of aging is the complete absence of mechanical processes. The disadvantage is a certain danger to human health during the work. Therefore, they should be carried out fresh air while protecting skin, eyes and respiratory organs.
Heat treatment or firing is done by exposing the wood to direct fire. Use either a torch or blowtorch. It is necessary to burn to a depth of about 3 mm.
If heat treatment is carried out superficially, then the effect of aging will not be as pronounced as with stronger firing.
After finishing the heat treatment, perform the following steps:
- By using metal brush or grinders with a bristle nozzle begin to scrape off a layer of soot to the desired degree of antiquity. It is not necessary to paint the surface. Soot will highlight the entire structure.
- Sanding is done with sandpaper.
- Apply to an aged tree finishing layer transparent varnish.
chemical method
A tree can be aged during chemical treatment by means such as alkaline compounds or ammonia. You can use household chemicals that contain alkaline components.
The essence of the process lies in the fact that when the product gets on the wood, it burns it out soft tissues. The structure of a tree is distinguished by the presence of hard and soft tissues. Antique wood processing, soft tissues are removed different ways.
IN this case the surface layer of wood is burned out with alkali, which in parallel paints it gray.
The next step is the process of washing off alkaline residues. To do this, you can use vinegar or citric acid. Solution citric acid prepared in proportion: 1 teaspoon of acid per glass of water. If vinegar is used, then it should be a 9% solution. Acetic acid must not be used. Further, the treated surfaces are well dried, polished and varnished.
Aging a tree in all the ways listed above is quite simple if you make efforts and efforts. You can give the desired effect to any surface. Can be aged as small household items, furniture or even a wooden floor.
- This is a long and painstaking process, consisting of mechanical processing of wood and work with paints and varnishes. This finishing method is associated with Leon42, a participant in the forum "House and Dacha", with naturalness, antiquity, folk culture.
According to Leon42, buy furniture and brush it with a metal brush - this does not age it yet, but simply scratch or, in best case, make a textured surface. Furniture bought in a store - made of lamellas and "skinny" - is not suitable for texturing, it looks rather sad and flawed.
leon42 believes brushed furniture should be rough and solid, able to capture the natural beauty of wood.
It is the superficial approach to the aging of wood, according to the forum member, that forms the opinion of many people about products processed using this technology as “furniture of fire victims”. Meanwhile, the combination of aged wood with metal, stone or ceramics in the interior is always a fashionable and stylish technique that allows all the inhabitants of the house to touch eternity and feel like in the Middle Ages.
Under natural conditions, wind and moisture, sun and temperature changes "work" on the aging of a tree. How to do what has been happening for many decades, in a few days?
Material preparation
For brushing, it is better to use soft to medium hard wood with a pronounced texture, such as spruce, pine or larch. In these wood species, soft fibers are formed, as a rule, in the spring-summer period, when there is an intensive growth of annual rings, and they are more “loose”.
Wood with uniform and unexpressed texture like beech and maple is not suitable for aging.
Before working with wood, prepare its surface. Eliminate all defects and dirt, whether traces of sweat, grease or other stains that may appear during the application of the tinting composition. Any products (small architectural forms, furniture, etc.) process, having previously disassembled: you will spend less time and can get it everywhere with a brush.
brushing
Brushing (English brush - “brush”), or texturing a tree is giving it a relief characteristic of old wood. On initial stage soft fibers are removed from solid wood. There are several processing options: light aging - a barely noticeable roughness is created on the surface, or deep and rough, when the depth of the roughness reaches 2-3 mm (for decorative elements, sometimes for rough furniture).
You can pre-treat any part, say, a ceiling beam, with an ax: make notches, trim the edges without fear of spoiling - no one but you knows what the result should be. In this case, you will receive a product with a deep microrelief of the surface and irregularities on it up to 20 mm deep.
Do not forget about the "traces" of the vital activity of bugs and worms. Simulate them before finishing using a drill or grinder. You can also apply simple elements threads: pigtails, dragons, etc. - you will get "Scandinavian style".
Sanding: tools and brushes
On large enterprises they use machines and automatic lines, where everything is provided - from the feed rate of the workpiece to a powerful dust removal system. For an ordinary summer resident, such equipment is expensive and, in general, an unnecessary pleasure. If you will do this type of work often, it is better to purchase a brushing machine. The most common and publicly available is Makita. The most economical and simple option is a “grinder” or a drill, preferably with the ability to adjust the speed.
The whole brushing process can be divided into three stages:
- Rough selection of soft fibers
- Grinding
- Polishing
Accordingly, each of them needs its own brush. At the first stage ( brushing) use metal (brushing). If you are making structures for the outdoors - a gazebo, a canopy, a fence, etc., then most likely this will be your only brush.
When processing with a metal brush, scratches can remain on the annual rings themselves, which are difficult to get rid of during further processing.
When working with kratsovka, you must adhere to the following rules:
- brush along the fibers, otherwise damage the annual rings and ruin the woody pattern;
- the speed of movement of the brush and the pressure should be approximately the same, otherwise pits will result;
- the light source should be placed on the side at an acute angle, directing the beam of light across the fibers - this way you can better see the surface to be treated;
- do not press hard on the surface, do not overload the engine, otherwise it may cause premature equipment failure;
- the speed of revolutions should not be higher than 3000, better - 2000-2500: the brush can quickly scatter;
- be sure to wear glasses, do not neglect and protective gloves: pieces of wire from the brush can fly off several meters, injuring others;
- take care of respiratory protection and dust removal: during this work, even eyelashes are covered with “powdery mascara”, let alone the lungs;
- a new brush needs to be “run in”, otherwise it will strongly “wave” the workpiece, after a while it will begin to process the surface cleaner;
- work only in one direction (rotation), the reverse should not be turned on - this will “kill” the metal brush;
- the humidity of the processed wood should not exceed 15%, otherwise, instead of a textured surface, you will get a shaggy-hairy one.
When processing sustainable and hard wood (larch, oak), be sure to use dust extraction systems: the dust of these wood species is considered carcinogenic and can cause lung cancer.
If you want to get rid of lint and get a better finish, you will need another brush - plastic (nylon), or rather, a grinding disc made of polymer-abrasive material. The most common grain size is 120.
Abrasive brush - universal, characterized by a more delicate surface treatment. If you use this brush, you can do without a metal brush, especially if the item needs to be treated delicately or if you want to avoid the specific scratches left by the brushes.
The principle of working with an abrasive brush is the same as with a metal one. It is better to reduce the speed to 1500 in order to extend the life of the brush. Dust when working with a plastic brush is finer and stickier, so do not forget about a respirator.
Surface treatment specifics:
- do not grind the edges-edges and corners of the workpieces, especially if you do not plan to varnish them later: they will cling and chip off;
- do not do it deep relief on seats, countertops and other horizontal surfaces - they will make it difficult to clean the surface: stains from spilled drinks, crumbs, etc. will clog between the fibers;
- in order to prevent clogging of dust and snags of a rag during cleaning, such surfaces must be sanded with an abrasive brush and fine-grained sandpaper.
The final stage of brushing - polishing or fine grinding: performed with sesal or other synthetic brushes. You can use fine-grained sandpaper, abrasive sponges, metal wool, removing dust from finished surface wide brush and vacuum cleaner.
Finishing operations
At the final stage, tinting is done (changing the color of wood by several tones), patination (underlining the texture of wood with special compounds that penetrate into the pores open during brushing), craquelure (the effect of cracking and drying out), and varnishing.
After brushing, the board will look like new, but with textured surface. To give her old view, it is covered various formulations dark colors look more natural.
It is the right play with the color of brushed wood that gives it an aged look. Areas with soft wood (pores or depressions) are stained unevenly with more dark color, from solid (combs) - to lighter. Recently, options with light troughs and darker ridges have been popular.
The easiest way is to apply a generous amount of dark stain and immediately wipe the area with a rag or a wide rubber spatula. In theory, the stain should be quickly absorbed into soft surface, but slower on the ridges. However, this is often not the case in practice, so Leon42 I settled on a more complex method: after complete drying, the ridges are polished with fine-grained sandpaper. This method requires further processing with varnish or colorless impregnations, so opened upper layer remains unprotected.
Another option is to use paint in two contrasting colors: the surface is completely painted over with the first color, then the second is applied. While the last coat dries, run with a wide rubber trowel, removing excess paint and exposing the ridges of the first coat.
Proper texturing is a simple but messy, time consuming and unhealthy process.
As a result of difficult and hard work, you will get decorative elements that carry the beauty of antiquity and at the same time have high strength. Every detail made with love with my own hands, will be unique.
According to the materials of the participant of the forum "House and Dacha"
Editor: Olga Travina
You can personalize your interior in a variety of ways. Most often, this is done by focusing on certain little things, for example, the use of unusual textures or colors. One of the technologies in demand for the formation of the original texture is do-it-yourself wood aging. The technique allows you to give the surface a unique pattern, while the basis is natural material.
The need for a procedure
Those who want to make antique furniture with their own hands should learn how to give its surface the most realistic appearance. For this, it is used artificial process- brushing (from English brush - brush). During operation, the structuring of the fibers occurs wooden elements. In nature, a tree reaches such a visual state over a longer period, but using modern facilities, it is possible to significantly narrow this time interval.
Under natural conditions, an aged tree loses its strength, and under artificial impact, the reverse process occurs, depriving the material of weak fibers and providing greater strength.
Such treatment also helps to protect the surface from the effects of bark beetles and other insects. As a result, it will be possible to achieve the necessary colors and stylish appearance. You can age a tree with your own hands for any need: from small photo frames or boxes to making furniture or parquet.
The use of wood species
It is important to consider that not every type of wood can be processed in this special way. The final quality is affected by the structure natural material. In most cases, artificial aging of a tree is applied to the following species:
- larch;
- nut;
- ash.
The internal structure of the tree should have a visible fibrous pattern. It will become the basis for the formation of the invoice. Deprived of this property, wood species with extremely hard fibers are not commonly used. These include:
- pear;
- maple;
- cherry;
The task of the performer is to directly influence the soft structure located between the annual rings. In the presence of the most homogeneous environment, it will not be possible to form the aging of a tree with your own hands.
So, for example, by burning, you can turn ordinary pine into a rare and valuable species of tropical wood obtained from the Wenge tree.
VIDEO: We turn pine into wenge
Application of the mechanical method
When carrying out a full cycle of brushing, the following algorithm of actions is carried out:
- primary machining using a metal brush to cut off soft particles from the surface of the workpiece
- carrying out grinding work with a roughing brush with polymer bristles or the use of sandpaper with a coarse abrasive;
- applying stain or other types of dyes to the treated surface;
- polishing work or applying several layers of varnish, in the intervals between drying, sanding “zero” is performed
During the artificial aging of wood, drills or grinders are used to reduce the volume manual labor and improve performance. The process uses brushes with aluminum, steel, copper and artificial polymer bristles.
Do-it-yourself wood aging, as shown in the video at the end of the chapter, begins with roughing, when the tool is driven along the arrangement of the fibers with the same speed and uniform pressure over the entire surface.
Processing should not form unwanted "pits" in the blanks, so you need to enter the tool evenly, without much pressure, if the idea does not require the formation of a target rough relief.
The light during work must be of high quality and provide a vision of the natural pattern. In this regard, the lamp beams are directed perpendicular to the length of the fibers. In such a situation, the desired pattern is shaded.
The moisture content of the processed wood is selected in the range of 15-16%. This value will provide the preferred finish surface roughness without raised villi. If, before aging a tree at home, you use a polymer processing tool, you will achieve an effect with a less pronounced relief.
The next step in the form of sanding will cut off the raised wood pile from the fibers. Sandpaper or abrasive brushes successfully cope with the task. You can control the degree of roughness manually.
VIDEO: Do-it-yourself artificial aging of wood. Carpentry Tricks
Applying a coloring layer
The prepared relief with the help of mechanical means is processed by staining. This will significantly enhance the result and hide fresh peeling. by mechanical means. Thanks to the play of colors, it will be possible to obtain the required presentable effect.
It is customary to stain similar antique wood products with stain, and then wash it off. This will allow the material to enter almost instantly into the soft structure of the tissues, while the hard one will not have time to absorb the applied color. The natural beauty of the material will fully manifest itself outside.
It will be possible to leave particles of gold paint on the surface if you apply a small layer of it with a brush, and then remove the residue from the surface with a hard spatula. The particles will penetrate into the depressions and pores, which will ensure a successful result.
You can protect the cavities and grooves formed during the machining process with a transparent putty. This technique is useful in the manufacture of countertops, shelves or other practical surfaces. During their operation, fine dirt will not be clogged into relief zones.
Since the tree must be artificially aged carefully and with the possibility of its use, the finishing operations are:
- polishing;
- varnishing;
- waxing.
It will also be possible to achieve an interesting texture for designers with the help of craquelure varnishing. It forms small cracks and chips on the front side. Paint or coal dust must be rubbed into them, providing a unique individual pattern.
Choose craquelure in specialized stores and within expiration dates. In most cases, expired varnish does not give a cracking effect.
Using chemical brushing
In the process of chemical action on the fibers, it is possible to achieve similar results that are obtained from mechanical processing. For this, active solutions are used that can affect the structure of the soft fiber. Corroding the desired areas, an original pattern is formed on the surface of a wooden blank.
Chemical brushing
The technique does not require the use of brushes and sandpaper during the active phase. For several cycles of applying and washing off the solution, the canvas is transformed.
In pickling, preparations are used that contain particles that are poisonous to humans, therefore, in order to prevent poisoning of the body with chemical vapors, it is recommended to work in open space.
Chemical solutions that are used in softening fibers contain high percent alkali. You can take for this purpose a drug that cleans the oven. After a good rubbing, the layer is washed off, and the cycle is repeated until the desired effect is obtained. After etching, the finishing operations coincide with those that were carried out during machining.
Work with chemicals must be carried out in compliance with the means personal protection: gloves, goggles, petal and protective gown or apron. After the operation, all residues of the substance from the surfaces are washed off under running water.
VIDEO: How to make an antique wood table top with your own hands
Interior and household items decorated with artificially aged wood:
Table and chairs - made of larch
Kitchen. Facade - larch, shelves - pine
Beautiful aged furniture can bring an atmosphere of sophistication and harmony to your home. Under natural conditions, the tree grows old under the influence of various natural factors - wind, rain, sun rays etc.
But it is not at all necessary to wait a couple of decades for the purchased headset to acquire such a unique look. You can use special technologies wood aging.
Benefits of aged wood
Aged furniture looks elegant and stylish in any interior.
Aged wood is a beautiful, durable and functional material from which various items furniture: tables, chairs, beds, chests of drawers, etc.
The benefits of aged wood are as follows:
- The surface does not require special treatment, if desired, it is enough just to cover it with varnish.
- The effect of aging allows you to give any piece of furniture an antique look.
- Natural wood pattern looks unique and inimitable.
- Aged wood furniture will look harmonious in any interior.
- This material is environmentally friendly and anti-allergenic.
- Aged wood is reliable and durable.
- Finally, furniture made from this material will never go out of fashion.
What kind of wood is best to age?
Suitable for aging soft wood or material of medium hardness. It has a brighter texture. This requirement is met by spruce, larch and pine. The breeds presented are distinguished by the fact that they have soft fibers. In spring and summer, annual rings form on them most quickly, causing the fibers to become “loose”. Woods such as beech and maple are not suitable for aging, because their texture is weakly expressed and almost uniform.
Preparation
Before aging a tree, its surface must be prepared
Before you start aging wooden furniture with your own hands, you need to conduct a quality preparation of the surfaces that you plan to process. To do this, remove all defects and dirt. These may be traces of fat and other stains. If this is not done, obsolete pollution will appear after applying a tint coating to the tree. Also remove old paint or varnish and dismantle excess fittings that interfere with antique processing.
Ways
When preparatory stage the robots are done, start aging. First, decide on the technology that you would like to age the furniture with. There are the following options:
- Coloring;
- Craquelure;
- Surface brushing;
- Stain processing;
- Wood processing with special chemical compounds(olding technology);
- Application of gilding;
- Achieving a lime effect (liming technology).
Let's look at each of these ways of aging a tree in more detail.
Coloring
Wood aged with staining technique
If you want your wooden furniture to look worn, you can use the staining technique. Choose a base tone that will show through the top layer of paint.
For the base, you can use any color, as long as it is more saturated than the auxiliary.
You can also use color mixed with white paint and water base. For the second layer, it is better to use light shades. This combination of colors will create the effect of burnt paint. After the paint is dry, sand it down with fine grit sandpaper. This will remove excess paint. Sanding is necessary until the effect of worn paint appears. The main layer will come through it. The final stage of processing is varnishing.
Craquelure
You can paint the tree with craquelure technique. In other words, create the effect of cracks on wooden furniture. You will need a special craquelure varnish. After applying the base color to it, the varnish will crack. The color of the cracks depends on the selected base. To add originality, you can use several colors at once. Craquelure - good way quickly give your wooden furniture an antique look.
Surface brushing
Wood aged with brushing technique
Brushing technology is a simple method of aging wooden furniture using a wire brush, fine-grained sandpaper, a chisel and a drill. Before proceeding with the main process, you need to remove the top layer of wood. Brushing can be combined with surface painting. Use sandpaper and a brush to remove the top layer, and use a chisel and a drill to create furrows and wormholes. The brushing technique is most often used to age the floor and boards. After completing the main stage of work, cover the surface with oil, varnish or stain.
When decorating wooden furniture, it is important not to overdo it, because luxurious furniture can be turned into junk.
Good to know: Brushing is great for furniture made from hardwoods such as walnut, ash, oak and larch. This technique is contraindicated for maple, cherry, beech and teak.
Stain processing
Wood aged with wood stain
This technique is used in combination with others. Coating furniture with paintwork material will achieve the effect of staining. First you need to treat the surface, and then wash off part of the stain with a damp sponge. It is important to leave the edges, bends and cracks darker than the main part of the surface in order to emphasize the effect of aging.
If after the first time you were not able to achieve the desired result, just carefully sand the surface. Some areas can be repainted with a brush dipped in stain. To make the color more saturated, after completing the main stage of work, cover the wood surface with a primer or the desired color. At the very end, go over the surface with antique wax using a soft cloth.
Olding technology (treatment with special compounds)
Wood aged using the aging technique
Olding is a very interesting technique for aging wood. With its help, you can recreate the effects of fading, swamp moss, burnout, etc. Special chemical reagents will help to achieve amazing results. This technique is suitable only for hardwoods (oak, hornbeam, etc.).
This is interesting: If softwood is aged, it will simply become unusable after being treated with strong chemicals.
The final step will be the coating of the surface with varnish. It will serve to protect the surface.
Gilding
To qualitatively age furniture and achieve an antique look, you can use gold platinum. Gilding is one of the most simple procedures which won't take much time. Just completely paint the furniture in the chosen color and wait for it to dry.
Useful information: Gold paint must be applied in a thin layer. Only then the furniture after painting will look perfect.
Laiming
Wood aged using the laming technique
Liming is the process of aging furniture with the help of lime effect. First, prepare the surface, degrease it. Treat the wood with a special pigment or paint. paints and varnishes will help to achieve any shade and texture. Apply paint along the fibers. So you emphasize the natural structure of the tree, and add the effect of "clogged dust" to the corners. For best result it is desirable to apply the liming composition with a brush or a gauze swab.
Useful information: When choosing a base color, do not forget that after drying it will look a little lighter.
Video. How to artificially age a tree with your own hands at home
An aged tree is one of fashion trends design for this season. Using any of the techniques described above, you can easily give surfaces such an effect at home. Artificially aged furniture will harmoniously look in the apartment and fill it with comfort.
Using wood in interior design is always a win-win option. This is the most beautiful natural, aesthetically perfect, breathable material. In addition, it has a beneficial effect on human energy, has bactericidal properties. Look great in any room furniture, floor, doors, ceiling beams, various decorative elements made of natural wood which can be processed better than other materials.
Why artificially age a tree
It is difficult to get a definite answer to this question, but there are three main answers:
- Personal preferences.
- The processed material allows you to create one of fashion styles: vintage, shabby chic, retro, provence, country style.
- If there is not enough money for antique furniture, then you can age the tree yourself. Subsequently, nothing will prevent you from passing off a table or chair made of such material as a product with a history.
How to age a tree. Master Class. brushing
There are several ways to achieve the desired result. The most interesting and most used of these is the method of texturing, or brushing. Its name came from English word brush, which means "brush" in translation. The essence of this method is that soft fibers are removed from the top layer of solid wood. As a result of processing, the surface becomes embossed. In the process of natural aging of a tree, the same changes occur with it, but this takes a very long time. Brushing is considered the closest to reality method of imitation of antiquity. It is used to give the wood a pronounced textured texture.
What types of wood are suitable for brushing
Transform wooden surface semi-antique, using the brushing method, it is not difficult at home. But not all wood lends itself to such processing. In order to age a tree, you need to use rocks with a distinct texture: pine, oak, larch, ash, walnut. And maple, beech, cherry, pear, teak and some exotic trees categorically not amenable to mechanical aging. It is useless to apply such mechanical way and for products from MDF. But how to make an aged tree from these materials if others are not available? For this case, there is chemical method. If you need to age the wood conifers, it would be more rational to use the mechanical method.
Mechanical restoration
Brushing is a rather laborious process. The main tool in this case is a hard metal brush. Since it will not work quickly to age a tree in this way, the process can be accelerated. To do this, you need a drill or a grinder equipped with a special wire brush.
Processing wood with power tools is a rather unsafe process associated with characteristic vibration and the risk of separation wood chips and metal rods. Therefore, it is necessary to know how to artificially age a tree and not suffer. Work is recommended to be carried out in a protective suit. To prevent small debris and dust from getting into your eyes, you must wear special camouflage glasses or cover your face with a shield, and for protection respiratory tract use a respirator.
Chemical processing
How to age wood with your own hands without using special tools? To do this, you need hard sandpaper. She needs to clean the surface, and then apply an ammonia solution ( ammonia), which causes a noticeable darkening of the wood. As a result, the structure of the tree will be able to appear especially brightly, and the noble darkening will give the finished product an antique look.
Depending on the desired degree of aging, this treatment can be light superficial, using a non-rough polymer brush, or deep, when growth rings become visible. In this case, it is very important not to overdo it, since you can get not the desired textured noble product, but spoiled loose wood.
After the initial rough cleaning, regardless of the processing method, the workpiece must be brought to the desired aesthetic appearance. To do this, burrs are removed from the surface, then the product is polished with a polymer abrasive brush. After that, the wood must be additionally carefully lightened with sandpaper and give it a final gloss.
Patination
To obtain the desired effect of antiquity, mechanical processing alone is not enough. Then you can simply varnish the product. But it is recommended to perform the so-called patination. This will further emphasize the relief surface of the product. Patina is a characteristic luxurious gloss that a tree acquires over the years. Its reconstruction at home is carried out in several stages and requires a lot of effort.
Patination is the process of applying special compounds and stains to the treated surface. They are selected depending on the desired color and shade. finished product. The compositions are applied in such a way that they get into the pores of the tree, which open during mechanical processing. It is important to achieve a patina effect, in which woody deep pores look a little darker and more contrast than lighter surfaces. When performing such processing on your own, it is recommended to use paint desired color. To do this, the surface is first completely painted over, and then the top layer is removed with a sponge or cloth, without waiting for drying. As a result, the tree looks more ancient and noble.
But patination is not necessary at all. Antique enameled items also look great. With the help of such materials, you can create a real masterpiece, which will be distinguished from real antiques only by a true connoisseur of antiquities. One layer of enamel should be applied to the surface. Then the tree needs to be dried and another layer applied. When re-painting the enamel, it is necessary to choose a more liquid one and a different color. When the wood is completely dry, it is necessary to wipe the surface with sandpaper so that the bottom layer shows through and scuffs are obtained.
Toning. Varnishing
After patination, further toning should be performed. For this process, compositions based on natural oils and resins are used. On last step wood processing is covered with 2-3 layers of varnish. Then it should be rubbed with a soft cloth to add extra shine. Varnishing fixes all previous stages and gives the product a finished look. Despite the fact that the process is laborious, anyone can master it. The main thing is to follow the technology. Then it will be clear how to age a tree with your own hands.
Brushing Secrets
How to age a tree to get best effect? To do this, you need to know some subtleties.
- The main surface is painted over with the following colors: white, red, black, blue, yellow, purple, brown, orange. For pores take blue, red, yellow and white colors.
- If you look at a board tinted with paint at an angle, you can notice the heterogeneity of the application.
- Manual brushing allows you to do the work more artistically, although the process will be very long, unlike the automatic method.
- The more defects (knots, curls, eyes) wood has, the better the product made from it will look.
Where can treated wood be used?
Far from every dwelling you can find processed material, since it is not enough just to age a tree. It is very important to use it correctly in the interior. Thanks to the use of the brushing method, you can create exclusive, almost antique products. For example, furniture items: exquisite book shelves, chests of drawers, cabinets, kitchen sets, country furniture, picture frames or mirrors, candlesticks and other decor.
This method is perfect for processing parquet and floorboards, as well as for the manufacture of doors, partitions, and various wooden elements. Antique-treated wood is often used in the decoration of the walls of a home bath or sauna, non-standard rooms or a whole house, retro cafes, bars, billiard rooms.
Today, it is no secret to anyone how to age a tree. In addition to brushing, there are many more ways. They differ in the complexity of the technology and the amount of time spent. But regardless of the choice, aged wood helps to create a unique spiritual atmosphere in any room, to connect eternal values and the spirit of modern times, to fill the house with an atmosphere of noble antiquity.
