Best way to put the "rough sawn" back onto a smoothed board?

[Mike Dowell]

I'm building a couple of "farm" tables. I haven't sourced the lumber yet(and my new jointer and planer haven't arrived yet) but I'm thinking ahead. I'm making the tops out of Maple. The tops should have a somewhat rough look. I don't necessarily need semi-circle sawblade/mill marks, but the general rough sawn look is what I'm going for. If it turns out that I get not-so-flat stock from the lumber mill and need to joint the face of these boards, I will want to rough them back up. My initial idea is to use a super rough bandsaw blade on my 14" Laguna and just skim a 32nd off, leaving the desired finish. Any ideas? Am I missing or forgetting something?

[Malcolm McLeod]

... use a super rough bandsaw blade on my 14" Laguna and just skim a 32nd off, leaving the desired finish. ...

I've done something similar to get rough-sawn shutters, but didn't even take a full cut. Ran the boards thru with a 1.5TPI blade just skimming the surface. Wiggle the board a 'tad' at random spots, or just stop the feed (to create some additional variability).

[keith micinski]

Idont think the band saw will give you the desired look your going for. I always just edge joint and surface joint the bottom of the board leaving the top with your rough sawn look it is a little to rough on the top I will either send it through the 16-32 to knock it down a little or you could just use a belt sander.

[Bill Rabbino]

try a sawzall with a long blade dragging it backwards over the board

[John K Jordan]

I'm building a couple of "farm" tables. I haven't sourced the lumber yet(and my new jointer and planer haven't arrived yet) but I'm thinking ahead. I'm making the tops out of Maple. The tops should have a somewhat rough look. I don't necessarily need semi-circle sawblade/mill marks, but the general rough sawn look is what I'm going for. If it turns out that I get not-so-flat stock from the lumber mill and need to joint the face of these boards, I will want to rough them back up. My initial idea is to use a super rough bandsaw blade on my 14" Laguna and just skim a 32nd off, leaving the desired finish. Any ideas? Am I missing or forgetting something?

I don't know about the best way but the way I'd do it is put back on the sawmill and make a skimming cut. (This would be harder if you don't have a sawmill. :)) Maybe you can find a local mill that will do it for you.

I suspect the cut from a shop bandsaw will be too smooth. The teeth on my Woodmizer are less than one per inch with significant set.

Otherwise, as you mentioned maybe you can fake it with a modified shop bandsaw blade. Start with a wide 2 or 3 tpi blade and grind off teeth until those pointing to one side are over an inch apart then try a skimming cut. I don't know if the set will be enough. If the teeth are hardened they might break if you try to increase the set. Perhaps try heating and annealing a few teeth and add set with a hammer and a punch. They won't stay sharp long but that probably won't matter. Don't cut too slowly. It doesn't take me long to cut a board from a 12' log.

How about just looking for some rough sawn lumber? It might be a lot cheaper. The Woodmizer web site has (or used to have) listings of sawmill owners who cut for others. A local guy always had air dry 4/4 and 8/4 when I visited.

JKJ

[Jamie Buxton]

Seven inch body grinder. 50 grit sandpaper. Makes nice circular-ish scratches. Don't pause in one spot.

[Rich Engelhardt]

High pressure (2500psi and above) pressure washer will do it for sure.
I know this for a fact since I did it - - -w/out wanting to.....:o

[Ira Matheny]

Distress the wood in most any of the manners described. possibly using several different styles, each on different boards. Then, join the boards and glue up. Use a # 7 or #8 hand plane in light passes to create flat/smooth spots, but still leaving the desired level of random 'milling marks'. If you are using a difficut grain wood, you may wish to try using a #62 [aka: lo angle 'jack' plane] to get a smoother finish.

The secret is to make tests to determine which meets your desires.

[John K Jordan]

High pressure (2500psi and above) pressure washer will do it for sure.
I know this for a fact since I did it - - -w/out wanting to.....:o

That or sand blasting will certainly make a wonderful "weathered" look. I wonder if it would give the "general rough sawn look" the OP said he wanted although a lot of old barnwood is highly weathered. On some that I have it's hard to see that it's rough sawn without looking at the back.

It the '70s I worked at an industrial piping shop where the sand blasting nozzles were the size of water nozzles on a fire truck. The guys doing the blasting looked like astronauts in their heavy full-body protective suits. The 4x4s that held the big piping off the floor got so "weathered" they looked like driftwood.

[Mike Cutler]

Mike

Distressing wood is an art form unto itself. My late cousin was very good at it. Some of his technique were pretty out there.

Are you looking for a band sawn rough look, or a large circular saw mill rough look?
For the band saw, use a dull blade, set a few kinks in the blade at random, open up your guides, wrap a few spots on the wheels with packing tape, and go. You are trying to make the blade hop and skip. You need to unbalance that blade. Be ready for the machine to "move".

For the circular saw look use an angle grinder. Wet the surface of the wood, and using a 3M wheel recreate the arcs of the blade on the surface. Let the outer edge of the 3M pad dig a little to create the kerf mark effect.

The hardest thing is to overcome your natural inclination of doing it "right" You want to do it "wrong".

[larry senen]

run the face of the board against a running band saw,backwards at a slight angle. the speed and angle will determine the amount of distressing.

[Andrew Hughes]

run the face of the board against a running band saw,backwards at a slight angle. the speed and angle will determine the amount of distressing.
This is what I've seen at my local lumber yard after they Resaw Douglas fir. They call it furring.
My suggestion was to bend some teeth on a junky blade for old time wood look.

[Joe Adams]

For faux weathered wood as opposed to rough sawn, look into the Makita 9741 4" Wheel Sander.

You will also need either the wire brush accessory (794382-7) or the 80 grit nylon brush (794384-3).

Best technique is to pull the tool towards you at a slow rate.

Works very well on Oak as it removes the early wood. I'm not sure how well it would do on Maple.

Not cheap but effective.

[Mike Dowell]

These are all really great replies and I thank you! I've learned a lot about this and I wouldn't have thought of most of these techniques.

[Bill Dufour]

There was some guy who forged antiques he would bury the finished product in a manure pile to age the wood. Also in dry sand at the beach.
Bil lD.

[Ted Phillips]

A technique that I like is completely different from a "rough sawn" look - but is pretty nice for something like a country-style table. I have a blade for my jack plane ground with a substantial camber so that it acts like a scrub plane. If you get the blade nice and sharp and run along the grain in overlapping passes, it creates a really cool antique furrowed look.

TedP

[Mike Dowell]

OP here. Well, thank you for all of these replies. Ultimately, due to availability, I employed the "backwards through the bandsaw at an angle" routine and it works amazingly. Particularly if you don't try to run the board perfectly. I pulled the boards fairly quickly stopping every here and there, and also twisting occasionally to put more marks in one edge than the other in spots. It looks nothing short of perfect in my mind. Thank you all for these ideas!

[Bryan Mills]

OP here. Well, thank you for all of these replies. Ultimately, due to availability, I employed the "backwards through the bandsaw at an angle" routine and it works amazingly. Particularly if you don't try to run the board perfectly. I pulled the boards fairly quickly stopping every here and there, and also twisting occasionally to put more marks in one edge than the other in spots. It looks nothing short of perfect in my mind. Thank you all for these ideas!

Do you have pictures of how this turned out?

[glenn bradley]

I've done something similar to get rough-sawn shutters, but didn't even take a full cut. Ran the boards thru with a 1.5TPI blade just skimming the surface. Wiggle the board a 'tad' at random spots, or just stop the feed (to create some additional variability).

This is my method as well .

[Bill Dufour]

Sandblaster, pressure washer, wire brush either hand or on an angle grinder. Whip it with a metal chain. Shoot it with a bb gun. brand it with a soldering iron. throw rocks at it. Ask local cats to sharpen their claws. I stain pine to match old with iodine. needle scaler? set hot frying pan on it.
Bill D.

[william walton]

Festool (as well as another manufacturer i ca't think of) make scalloping knives for their portable planer. These allow a hand carved look to be achieved. It does take a little practice for a good look. We've used these on set pieces (large city gates and doors) for a video representing first century village. Good even in closeups.

[Nick Lazz]

I do rough sawn “barn wood” rustic type stuff all the time in the band saw as you describe. I use a Timberwolf 2/3 TPI but other blades would work also. Finer teeth don’t give me the finish I like. A lot of times, just running the material through after dimensioning at the same final dimension slowly, roughs it up just enough. Varying feed rate through the cut will greatly increase and change the kerf marks and make them more random.

I also will edge treat with a knife.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

I'm building a couple of "farm" tables. I haven't sourced the lumber yet(and my new jointer and planer haven't arrived yet) but I'm thinking ahead. I'm making the tops out of Maple. The tops should have a somewhat rough look. I don't necessarily need semi-circle sawblade/mill marks, but the general rough sawn look is what I'm going for. If it turns out that I get not-so-flat stock from the lumber mill and need to joint the face of these boards, I will want to rough them back up. My initial idea is to use a super rough bandsaw blade on my 14" Laguna and just skim a 32nd off, leaving the desired finish. Any ideas? Am I missing or forgetting something?

When I read your message I thought immediately in my Lie Nilsen Jack plane with its (optional) toothed blade. It works very well despite it would be difficult to make semi circular pattern, but quite easy if you accept more linear pattern instead of.

On the other hand, perhaps if you take a regular plane (like honorable Stanley number 4) and tooth its blade with a file, it looks me perhaps it will work also. It can be a cheap and fast solution.

[Chris Fournier]

Dress a handplane blade to get an attractive profile and use the plane to create a rough planed look for a "have your cake and eat it too" outcome.

[Doug Dawson]

A technique that I like is completely different from a "rough sawn" look - but is pretty nice for something like a country-style table. I have a blade for my jack plane ground with a substantial camber so that it acts like a scrub plane. If you get the blade nice and sharp and run along the grain in overlapping passes, it creates a really cool antique furrowed look.

I was going to suggest an actual scrub plane for this. Even the Lie-Nielsen scrub is fairly cheap (a hundred something) and does a really great job at creating on overt country-style look to stuff. It's simple, simpler than a Bailey-style plane, and a really easy plane to use.

[Patrick Kane]

I second the appeal for a photo of the finished product. Ive had people request this sort of thing from me, and i usually turn them away.

[Doug Dawson]

I second the appeal for a photo of the finished product. Ive had people request this sort of thing from me, and i usually turn them away.

If you're referring to the scrub plane, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6osskqppymU and the texturing process starts at about the 3-minute mark. US$165+ship, it's a lovely tool, I have all the stationary tools but I still use it for some things.

[Michael Costa]

Anyone ever try bending some teeth on an old bandsaw blade to achieve this?

I've tried dragging boards backwards along the bandsaw blade at about a 45° angle to make this look. It seems to work okay but I've only done tests with scraps and never completed anything doing this. Just messing around before I completely smooth something out.

[Derek Cohen]

I would think that a toothed blade would leave too even and "neat" an appearance. A scrub plane blade would be very scolloped and fake. I would go for a bandsaw cut. The trick here is to use a blade with fewer teeth and much set. Mush it through at a moderate speed. Too slow, and it will leave a smoother finish. Too fast and it will wander off line. Ditto too many teeth - they will load up. You want a coarse finish, not a skewed one.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[andrew whicker]

A guy in SLC showed me how to texture with a convex spokeshave. It's pretty cool if you want that scalloped look. I guess OP doesn't.

Just curious: how does one eat off a table with saw marks and not have super tippy glasses and plates?

[Günter VögelBerg]

If you want to approximate mechanical saw mill marks I have done this somewhat successfully using a variable speed angle grinder on its lowest speed with a coarse flap disc. It takes some practice to get the sweep consistent.

For rustic work I prefer to use a jack plane or scrub plane.

[Michael Costa]

Dress a handplane blade to get an attractive profile and use the plane to create a rough planed look for a "have your cake and eat it too" outcome.

Could you do that with a quality paint scraper? File in some dips and sharp point like spots? Seems cheaper than messing with a nice plane.

[Mike Ontko]

It looks like I came late to the party and you've already found a solution that worked for you. Turns out, that's the same solution I used for my barnwood bed (https://sawmillcreek.org/album.php?albumid=902) project that I finished earlier this year. I started with red oak and used a slightly loose bandsaw blade to create the roughsawn look of pallet wood, then used a combination of three different stains to achieve a worn and weathered look.

[Peter Rawlings]

Looks like several hit on the same idea I had for bandsawn face. I did a ceiling in client's house in weathered t&g alder.

The jig
404676

404677

The look after skimming face
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Weathered and not
404679


In process
404680


Complete

404681

404682

[Mike Kees]

O.K. Peter please enlighten me,what did you use to "weather " the wood ?

[Peter Rawlings]

O.K. Peter please enlighten me,what did you use to "weather " the wood ?

Well Mike, I used Weatherwood, of course. Seemed appropriate...

https://www.weatherwoodstains.com/


Interesting stuff. It reacts with tannins and works differently than typical stains. I've sampled it on a number of hardwoods. White oak is pretty neat, gets very dark. The alder shown is one of the coolest looking IMHO. And as a side benefit, I can buy knotty alder almost as cheap as poplar. The $$ came in processing and I paid for the install with a really sore neck and shoulders from working over my head. was installed just like a hardwood floor.

[Mike Kees]

Thanks,Peter. This is a new product to me. Really like how it worked in your pictures. That job is real good looking to.

[Wes Ramsey]

If the rough lumber already has the look you want and is reasonably straight you could resaw off the rough face, size your lumber, then laminate it back on. For wiggly boards a simple frame or just a straight 2x6 screwed to the back side could straighten it enough to make it worth your time.