Distressed beat up aged look- How ?

[Scott Perkins47]

As a beginner carpenter I think it best that I attempt some
of the antique reproduction styles as the worse the fit
and finish the "better" they look. Has anyone any
advice on how best to distress and beatup the finish
jobs etc. So far I have found that the commercial
guys are prepainting with a contrasting color and then
covering with a new coat of paint and rubbing
the corners and waiting to dry a little and then
scrapping some dried paint off.
Scott

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Give it to my sons (6 and 8) for a weekend....they'll take care of it

[glenn bradley]

I used the edge of a screw, curled wire and a clump of keys. Worked out well for what the client wanted. A pirate chest breadbox that holds 4 loaves of bread.

[Danny Thompson]

About this time last year my rustic trestle table project was coming together. When I posted the results, someone asked for details about the distressing process. You can read them in post 19 of the following thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=102698

Boiled down, the idea is to preserve as much roughnes as you can in the stock, accent any existing flaws, and exercise moderation when self-inflicting distress.

If you are looking exclusively for a distressed, painted look, then the common practice is to:

1. Paint with the accent color.
2. Hit some of the edges, corners, and flats, particularly where long-term wear would occur, with a candle.
3. Paint over everything with your primary color.
4. Lightly sand--the portion of the topcoat that is sitting on wax will quickly flake away to reveal the accent color.

[Larry Fox]

All good advise so far. One thing to pay attention to is to not overdo it to the point where it looks contrived. I have seen pieces where they look like they were either run over by a truck, sandblasted or shot at close range with a shotgun. Trick is to pick out wear patterns that would be common in every-day use and to add some "patina" that implies old age and liberal use.

Many ways of doing this. I have seen may items used, keys, nails, combs, etc.

[phil harold]

fork
whip it with a chain

I like keys when thrown the give it different look each time