How to age new timber

[Bod]

Hi all, anyone any ideas on how to age some new 225x150 purlins Ive just put in a barn conversion, I was hoping to leave them exposed and wanted them to look old as if they'd been there 100's of years, couldn't use reclaimed as engineer wouldn't spec it so had to use new, cheers

[Stuart Noble]

Depends what wood it is and what you regard as old-looking. Potassium dichromate works well on pine but is unpredictable on hardwoods. It's probably banned by now but it used to be available from french polish suppliers as "bichromate of potash". Extremely light sensitive so it may take a while to develop a colour indoors. Some people think distressing the surface with chains and the like looks authentic.

[Phil]

Careful use of a blowlamp and wire brush will leave the surface darkened with raised grain - as if worn. Experiment with some offcuts first.

Phil.

[The Natural Philosopher]

THAT, plus other 'remedies' was why we had to have our NEW beams sandblasted.

Do not worry if its oak. Coat with a mild stain or just linseed or Danish, and let nature take its course.

Or if you like the stained look, soak em with water.

[Stuart Noble]

But I have plenty of exposed Victorian wood and none of it has raised grain, or is dark, or looks in any way distressed. What is it we're trying to imitate exactly?

[Martin Carroll]

In article , Bod writes

Go to your nearest door stripper and ask him for some of the old caustic from the tank.

I have used this on new pine quite a few times ad it certainly gives an aged look.

I generally finish off with a wax polish.

The caustic does make it look a bit orangey at first but this fades quickly.

Cheers

Martin

[mail]

[mail]

Dear Bod Sorry for the blank message a moment ago. You want to "age" the timber. Consider stepping back and viewing this in the overall perspective of someone in 500 years' time looking at your work. It is quite possible that they are going to think uncharitable things about your proposed efforts. What is likely to be bugging you is the new LOOK which is represented by a lighter colour rather than the age itself. Consider the merits of the philosophy of being proud of your work and how about putting in a carved or stamped date on all the timbers "Repaired 15/12/2007" and possibly the builder's name/ your name on areas of the timber not readily seen and then staining the timber with suitable colour but otherwise leaving it the same. If it is an historic building you should consider the merits of respecting the proposals of Ruskin, Morris et al when the set up the SPAB (Soc for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) If you use a destructive chemical, such as sodium hydroxide, what you are doing is to solublise ingredients such as 5-carbon sugars (hemicelluloses) in the outer few mm of the timber and that would have a potential increase of susceptibility to biodeterioration by wood- destroying organisms. The effect is more likely to be that of wind and rain exposure than aging per se. Potssium dichromate is only likely to act as a stain and is unlikely to have any chemical effect (but I may be wrong as I have never used it on timber in the lab). Mechanical distressing is plain naff in my opinion but then that is a matter of taste and one man's meat.... Yrs Chris

[Stuart Noble]

I don't think there's a chemical reaction with the timber but it's a very deep, transparent stain that was routinely used on mahogany. Looks like pale orange juice when it dries but, on exposure to light, takes on a lilac hue, which is quite good for toning down orange.