making new wood look old?

Butch(OH)

Well-known Member
O.T. for this forum but Ill bet somebody can lead me the right direction.
I recently purchased this early 1900s portable corn sheller. Due to some dry rot and other damages I need to remake several important structural pieces and quite a few more non-structural parts. I would like to finish the new parts as to blend in with the rest of the machine but don't have a clue how to accomplish it? I plan on spraying it with boiled linseed oil when done to preserve it. Thanks in advance for any tips or ideas.
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I have seen new wood washed with a pressure washer until the grain stands out and it was hard to tell the difference between it and 150 year old wood it was put with on an old cabin.
You just keep washing it until you get the effect you want.
Richard in NW SC
 
Check on you tube. I was watching a home repair show a few years back in which the builder needed older looking wood. He pressure washed the wood to bring out the grain and dipped it in a mixture of possibly ammonia or vinegar. The final product looked good.
 
Made some beams for my living room out of pine. Took an awl down the length of the wood to mimic cracks and took a hammer and other tools like a wood chisel to beat it up a little. Put nail holes in, etc. Then stained it dark and sanded the edges and high spots. Finally put a clear coat over it. Turned out looking pretty authentic.
 
I've used a stiff wire brush in the direction of the grain to rough it up, then let the wood sit out in the weather for a few months. It's amazing how quickly it turns gray and old-looking. (But it's not a REALLY quick solution for someone in a rush on a project.)
 
It doesn't take long for wood to weather without anything on it. Coat it after it gets to the point your looking for.
 
leave it outside for a month.
Then when you spray the new wood down with oil,
use dirty black used engine oil.
(don't use gear oil...it'll stink for years :D )
 
Ask a painter and then ask someone who refinishes furniture. One or the other should be able to give you some "How To" information. Some of those refinishers are really good at matching new and old wood.
 
I recently built an exterior door that I wanted to look older. I used a wire brush on a drill
to remove the softer wood. I was satisfied with the final look.

carpenter
 
The water blasting works , then if you leave it wet wash it down with a 20% solution of Oxalic acid and water ,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalic_acid

This is often used to bleach out the black water damage stains in feature timbers but it does a really nice job of turning the timber grey . So with the raised and furred grain from water blasting and the grey from this acid the timber you replace should look as old as you want it to .
 
Use a blowtorch or a propane torch and use on the whole surface
of the board until it is black. Then scrub it with a steel brush
until you get the black/charred wood removed. It'll be a medium
brown with raised grain. Experiment on a scrap piece of wood first.
 
Just watched this on a PBS show...

Soak steel wool in vinegar (I think overnight), then apply the vinegar to raw wood and it will insta-grey it.

Try it on another piece of wood first or in an inconspicuous spot.

They did a demo on TV and it sure looked like it worked well to me.
 
You might bare down on the wood with a power washer to texture it. Then mix some gray paint very thin to stain the wood with.
 
If the wood is oak you can darken it with ammonia. Just douse it until it looks right or you pass out from the fumes.
 

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