Saturday, July 6, 2013

Aged Driftwood Bass

Phase One : : Cut, Carve and Distress
I cut the bass silhouette out of 3/4" Pine with a jig saw. I used a variety of rasps and sandpaper to clean up and smooth out the form. To distress the wood I grabbed a selection of different screws, nails, bolts, and drill bits and using a hammer punched them into the wood. I experimented with the look and feel on a scrap piece of wood first.

Phase Two : : Driftwood DIY Stain
Cabot's makes a Bleaching Oil that creates the effect I want but you can only buy it in gallons and it is $42. So to get the beautiful aged silver gray you see on wood that has been exposed to the elements for years I created a little science experiment. One piece of 0000 steel wool, glass mason jar, rusty nails extracted from my old fence and white distilled vinegar.  Take the steel wool and rip it in small pieces, put it in the jar with the rusty nails and pour the vinegar in until the jar is half full.  Between 24 and 48 hours most of the steel wool will be dissolved.  Occasionally I stirred the nails and steel wool around to help speed up the process.

Phase Three : : Stain Application
To start I took some black tea that I brewed and painted the entire piece of wood. Let it completely dry for a day. Then I just brushed my concoction on and as soon as the vinegar touched the wood, it started to change.  I guess the steel wool reacts with the vinegar and when this is put on wood, it speeds up the natural oxidation process. Last I lightly sanded the wood in different spots to give it more of an uneven "molted" look. 

..................................................................................................................................................................................






No comments:

Post a Comment