Brushing old pine

[Martin Titmus]

Hi - Here in the French Alps it is now fashionable to use brushed "Chablis" for wall panelling. I have a job to make some furniture from Chablis and want to "brush" it prior to finishing. Commercial brushing to raise the grain produces an effect similar to sand blasting - I have tried using several different wire brushes to produce a similar effect but they tend to shred the wood and the effect is not as good - Has anyone any experience of brushing to raise the grain and could suggest a suitable brush for the job? Any help most welcome. (By the way Chablis is pine which has been killed by a fungal infection which produces an attractive grain colour ) dont know what you would call it??
Thanks for your help
Martin Titmus

[Jim Becker]

Martin, perhaps something in a soft brass wire brush might work. The harder the material in the brush, the more aggressive it will be. I suspect that "touch" is also a factor.

Please do post a picture of how things turn out...it will be instructive to the SMC community!

[Martin Titmus]

Thanks for reply Jim - will post pictures when complete. For now have attached poor quality pic of units built for a bowl type sink - notice the grain colour - particularly on shelf!