Thanks for taking the time to outline your process. I tried the gray chalks you mentioned earlier and got a very nice shade of gray also. Would not have thought to start with such a dark gray as 704.3 as a base.
Certainly Kevin, sometime this weekend, I originally posted 704.5, not sure if Bryan had a typo, or changed it up a little by using 704.3, but I'm always happy to share how I did it. When I do the battens in the next few days with the same process/colors I'll post it for you.
Great to have you along for the build/thread Craig.
It's always more motivational to have more people joining in and posting, with ideas, thoughts and questions, the odd compliment is also much appreciated.
Hopefully some progress to show later tonight on the walls.
Thanks Ken, a high compliment. Craig the grain was indeed added with the wire wheel and plumbers brush by hand, as always. The siding boards on this kit are 1x12 and 1 x 10 (.020 thick) so deep, wide graining is not as easily possible as it is with 2x12 (.040 x 1/4). This added care and lighter touch that is needed for the thinner wood leads to a finer more intricate grain look. The 3” stiff wire wheel gives the deeper more pronounced grain and the plumbers brush cleans out these ‘gouges’ and adds a finer grain around the deeper ones. The spilt boards, cracked boards, broken boards and further detail are added individually and specifically to each board with an exacto knife as they are placed on the wall, and then glued. Does this answer your question?
Thanks Robert, Bryan and Craig. I pretty much always use the wire wheel Craig, it's stiff and severe and quick, after that I'll use a variation of the other brushes, depending on the final look I want.
Thanks so much guys, just the basic techniques from the manuals... coupled with a personal touch and my own feel I guess, but, straight out of the 'book'.
(I'm gonna stick with 'Fabricator', I like that, although 'Wizard of Wood' is a high compliment I'll proudly embrace as a secondary 'nom de plume'.) haha
Karl, yes you answered my question....I have another are you using tooth picks for your knots i used them one time and when i stained my wood the knots turned out to Dark are you using the same kind of wood as your boards for your knots? ..........I'll have to see what a plumbers brush looks like.
From the previous page...Plumbers brush top left, found in welding or plumbing aisle, used for cleaning off the burrs on cut pipes before connecting, there are two sizes that I've seen. Yes the knots are tooth picks, I thought that was shown in the previous pic's, I'll go back and check... It's also described in the manuals.
End grain stains/weathers/ages darker than face grain, much more absorbent, look at a fence, or siding, knots are usually darker. Put in "knotty fence" to google and look at 'images'...
I picked up a couple 4" round brushes similar to those you are showing Karl. I chuck them up in my drill press and slowed to 600rpm. They work great just sliding the board along it as it rotates. The course one digs a bit deep, so very little pressure is needed. I found it much safer to just use the finer one.
I checked, and the one shown (my favorite) is actually only 2"... I tried chucking them up in my drill press many years ago Emery for tree trunks or dowels for pilings, and that works ok. For something as delicate as .020 strip wood for siding I'm gonna keep doing it by hand lol... much more control, accuracy for specifics.
Everyone has a favorite brush technique. I found that controlling the plumber and wheel brush to be awkward for me and never tried using a power tool. I found a very stiff steel brush (Hobart 770108) and a softer steel brush shaped like a toothbrush to be more comfortable.
Oh I agree. I am just using that method for bridge ties and trestle bents. (close to 1000 ties to do) It would be way too hard on real small strip wood.
Ok I didn't know that was a plumbers brush as I don't have any plumbers experience. I did see the toothpicks as I mentioned in my other post .....mine turned out to dark to my eyes when I stained them and seen yours were not that dark. As far as graining the wood I have a bunch of different metal file brushes and soft brass brushes but never used a small wire wheel but I do have a few.
Karl has graciously outlined in some detail how he grains and ages his scale lumber as have Bryan, Ken and Brett among others here on the forum. All are great tutorials. Below you will find a photo of a few of my go to tools for graining scale lumber.
Tools L to R: 3/4" brush for cleaning inside of copper fittings prior to soldering/sweating copper (Home Depot/ Plumbing) 1/2" brush for cleaning inside of copper fittings prior to soldering/sweating copper (Home Depot/ Plumbing) Tool for cleaning your wood files and rasps. It has a rather aggressive set to the very fine stiff steel wire teeth. (I found this tool at my local Ace Hdw. and use it regularly when I am doing woodworking projects that require clean files and rasps. I find it extremely affective because of its aggressive stance for graining the scale lumber we use in our projects.) Brass brush found in the plumbing section at Home Depot along with steel wire brushes.
Comments
I'll be trying it the next time I use this 'variation', thanks again.
could you expound on this?
I originally posted 704.5, not sure if Bryan had a typo, or changed it up a little by using 704.3, but I'm always happy to share how I did it.
When I do the battens in the next few days with the same process/colors I'll post it for you.
It's always more motivational to have more people joining in and posting, with ideas, thoughts and questions, the odd compliment is also much appreciated.
Hopefully some progress to show later tonight on the walls.
Here you can clearly see the colour difference between the inside and outside of the walls.
Craig the grain was indeed added with the wire wheel and plumbers brush by hand, as always.
The siding boards on this kit are 1x12 and 1 x 10 (.020 thick) so deep, wide graining is not as easily possible as it is with 2x12 (.040 x 1/4).
This added care and lighter touch that is needed for the thinner wood leads to a finer more intricate grain look.
The 3” stiff wire wheel gives the deeper more pronounced grain and the plumbers brush cleans out these ‘gouges’ and adds a finer grain around the deeper ones.
The spilt boards, cracked boards, broken boards and further detail are added individually and specifically to each board with an exacto knife as they are placed on the wall, and then glued.
Does this answer your question?
Jerry
Is that wire brush replacing your grill brush in this instance?
I pretty much always use the wire wheel Craig, it's stiff and severe and quick, after that I'll use a variation of the other brushes, depending on the final look I want.
coupled with a personal touch and my own feel I guess, but, straight out of the 'book'.
(I'm gonna stick with 'Fabricator', I like that, although 'Wizard of Wood' is a high compliment I'll proudly embrace as a secondary 'nom de plume'.) haha
Yes the knots are tooth picks, I thought that was shown in the previous pic's, I'll go back and check... It's also described in the manuals.
End grain stains/weathers/ages darker than face grain, much more absorbent, look at a fence, or siding, knots are usually darker.
Put in "knotty fence" to google and look at 'images'...
I tried chucking them up in my drill press many years ago Emery for tree trunks or dowels for pilings, and that works ok.
For something as delicate as .020 strip wood for siding I'm gonna keep doing it by hand lol... much more control, accuracy for specifics.
Below you will find a photo of a few of my go to tools for graining scale lumber.
Tools L to R:
3/4" brush for cleaning inside of copper fittings prior to soldering/sweating copper (Home Depot/ Plumbing)
1/2" brush for cleaning inside of copper fittings prior to soldering/sweating copper (Home Depot/ Plumbing)
Tool for cleaning your wood files and rasps. It has a rather aggressive set to the very fine stiff steel wire teeth. (I found this tool at my local Ace Hdw. and use it regularly when I am doing woodworking projects that require clean files and rasps. I find it extremely affective because of its aggressive stance for graining the scale lumber we use in our projects.)
Brass brush found in the plumbing section at Home Depot along with steel wire brushes.
Hope this helps you find more useful tools.
Later, Dave S. Tucson, AZ