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Thread: Distressing

  1. #46
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    Prashun: Judge the judgmental, and what am I? ;-)

    Kees, unless you are building for a client, shrug off the haters and do what makes you happy. You have to live with the piece. It's your enjoyment and your taste. Why would anyone want to live with something they don't like as much just because it makes the haters happy - i.e., suits someone else's tastes? Maybe for some people, happy haters brings them the most fulfillment .... naah.



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM

    Last edited by Sean Hughto; 10-24-2014 at 8:42 AM.
    ~ Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.

  2. #47
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    I have possibly done more "aging" than most here. My clients have demanded it. So I'm not a "hater". I just think if it's going to be done,do it right. I distinguish between aging and distressing,however. You will not see damage to the bobbin and flyer I posted. Just aging.

    One time I had to make a missing ivory arcade from a an original spinet. One of the cleaning staff had probably sucked it up with a vacuum cleaner(They were prone to doing that!! One time a maid sucked out most of the jacks of a harpsichord trying to dust it with the top rail off. They had to re assemble the instrument. Fortunately,the jacks are always numbered,) Anyway,I did not scratch,dent,or otherwise damage the arcade(A decorative piece found on the fronts of the keys.). I did put a judicious amount of cigarette ash and some small amount of dye in the crevices. It fooled all the curators. They then got all excited and demanded that I sign the bottom of the new arcade! I did. You'd have thought It was a major event!! I just enjoyed fooling those types.

    It did need to match the other 200 year old arcades,with their usual dose of old crud,soot,and other accumulation.

    I'll mention that one janitor knocked an original coffee pot off a mantle. It was dented. Fearing getting into trouble,he took a ball pein hammer and tried knocking it back out. Somehow his crude attempts were discovered,and the master silversmith had a time hammering the stretched and damaged silver back down. The cleaning staff were not the sharpest knives in the drawer,and they were always working around valuable antiques. The moving crew(a special one at that!) were good at damaging valuable antiques,too.
    Last edited by george wilson; 10-24-2014 at 8:53 AM.

  3. #48
    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    I have possibly done more "ageing" than most here.
    Yeah, about twice as much as many of us! haha.

  4. #49
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    George, your posts are really helpfull, even when you are just sharing anecdotes.

  5. #50
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    David refers to me being an old duff,which I AM!!!!!!!

  6. #51
    It wasn't my intention but I thought the finish on this simple box did come out with a sort of pseudo antique look. I rubbed the slurry from the bottom of my sharpening pond into the wood a few times is all with the filings, clays binders and other filth I think it gives that well aged look. I guess more could have been done but as has been suggested, more is less in the instance.

  7. #52
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    That looks pretty convincing Ernest. And like you say, less is more.

  8. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    I guess I've never understood distressing. I've seen homes where all the furniture is antique and it looks terrible to me. The chips and broken pieces, worn finishes, upholstery that looks dirty, etc. Why people want that in their homes is just beyond me.

    Mike
    Much like David and George mentioned above I think there is a distinction between 'well worn' and 'abuse'. The patina most manufacturers attempt to create seems to fall into the category of abuse (thank you 'shabby chic'). It's worth noting the difference as I personally feel that well kept antiques look fantastic.
    Last edited by Brian Holcombe; 10-24-2014 at 9:23 AM.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  9. #54
    Oh yeah Kees, I forgot to mention, I had that nest of swallows in the workshop just above and well, you know how the swallows are around here - good shots. Never mind cleaning it off, might be interesting, and it was.

  10. #55
    About forty years ago, when paneling was in vogue, a homeowner wanted to maintain the same molding profile throughout her new house and asked me to give her white pine molding a “weathered look” in the Family Room to match the installed Masonite Weathered paneling.

    After picking through a lot of molding I was able to find a good grain match and grain color as a starting point. I used a small sandblaster to distress the surface and relied on the paint store guru for an exact color match with the paneling.

    I received several referrals from the homeowner for people wanting to duplicate that same look on other projects but I told them the molding had been discontinued and was no longer available. It was too much work and I figured I might not be so lucky the next time.


  11. #56
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Holcombe View Post
    Much like David and George mentioned above I think there is a distinction between 'well worn' and 'abuse'. The patina most manufacturers attempt to create seems to fall into the category of abuse (thank you 'shabby chic'). It's worth noting the difference as I personally feel that well kept antiques look fantastic.
    There was some faux english chain that came here "elephant and castle" or something, that seemed like a united states version of english food. Whoever they bought tables from tried to make the tables look like they were old and from who knows where.

    *every single table* had the side of a screw hammered into it at least a dozen times. And it looked like the exact same screw was used for every single dent in every single table. That was just one example of how imitation everything looked.

  12. #57
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    Why,David,you sound like you do not believe that in the normal course of use,screws are going to be hammered sideways into your table!

  13. #58
    I'm sure in a factory that manufactures screws and packages them by dropping them on a table and then shooting hammers out of a cannon toward the packing area, such a thing would happen!

    I'm so closed minded by now that I don't like anything!! that's getting to be true!!

  14. #59
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    Hmmm David, I think you should hammer some screws on those bland planes you made lately. That would certainly improve them.

  15. #60
    Quote Originally Posted by Kees Heiden View Post
    Hmmm David, I think you should hammer some screws on those bland planes you made lately. That would certainly improve them.
    I dropped one of them already. That's authentic! I broke the edges out of the jack, too...a little.

    At some point, I'll show all three on youtube and use them, but I have some other videos I want to make first, and I make just terrible videos.

    If I wanted them to be shabby chic, though, I'd put a mismatched modern iron in them and recut the eyes so that they actually make the cheeks lower than the top of the plane.

    maybe some sequins in the handle, too, and a big Megadeth sticker on the side of one.
    Last edited by David Weaver; 10-24-2014 at 1:32 PM.

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