How to "pull" out the grain and knots in your wood projects

[bobzilla]

I thought this might be something some of you might want to try out on your wood projects.... wooden : signs, coffins, tombstones, fencing, treasure chest, planking, wine barrel, old crates, ect. This wire wheel method will "pull" or "raise" the wood grain and knots from your wood projects and give them a nice aged and weathered look. Start off with a wire wheel ( Home Depot) and an electric (You'll have more power with an electric drill) or cordless drill. Cordless drills work, but the battery's tend to wear down pretty fast. The example I'm using is an old fence board I had lying around, but you can use just about any type of wood ( not sure if plywood will work ? ) Lay your board on a flat surface and clamp the wood down so it doesn't move around while working. The deeper you go, the more grain and knots will show. Run the wire wheel up and down the wood with the grain. Try not to go side to side, because this will cause cross - hatching on the grain. (irregularities in the opposite direction of the grain) It's really quite simple, drill, wire wheel,back and forth with the grain, gloves, eye protection, clamps. You can use any aging or dry brush method you like. My examples are not the way I would normally paint or age something, just what I had lying around. Here are some pics. If I haven't explained myself enough, feel free to ask questions.

http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/bobzilla-albums-wood-tutorial-picture43359-wood-grain-test-004.jpg

http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/bobzilla-albums-wood-tutorial-picture43363-wood-grain-test-086.jpg

http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/bobzilla-albums-wood-tutorial-picture43366-wood-grain-test-013.jpg

http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/bobzilla-albums-wood-tutorial-picture43364-wood-grain-test-027.jpg

http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/bobzilla-albums-wood-tutorial-picture43362-wood-grain-test-080.jpg

[bobzilla]

http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/bobzilla-albums-wood-tutorial-picture43367-wood-grain-test-084.jpg

http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/bobzilla-albums-wood-tutorial-picture43360-wood-grain-test-039.jpg

[halstaff]

Looks great! You know I'll be giving this a try.

[bobzilla]

You can get a bigger wire wheel than the one I was using. I just had that lying around from last year and it was pretty dull. They make them in fine, medium and course depending on how hard the wood is. Course for hard woods like oak and fine to medium for soft woods like pine.

Looks great! You know I'll be giving this a try.

[deathstaste]

burn it with a torch first that way you are only wire brushing away char and ash. easy even with a hand wire brush

[BobC]

Nice, Thanks for posting this...

[IMU]

Very nice work on this ... I'll keep it handy for future projects. :)

[bobzilla]

Thanks guys, hope it helps out :)