How to make wood look rustic? Which wood?

[Lyndon Graham]

I am planning my 1st major peoject. I saw a set of shelves in Texas. They were wester / Southwestern design. They were massive in thickness (2" thick finished) and the wood was very coarse grained (mesquite possibly) and they cost $5,000. I would like to make something similar.

I can't afford mesquite and am not a good enough woodworker to to handle it. I was thiking redwood. Strarting with 10/4 if I can find it amd planing back to 2". Thoughts?

As far as the look of the wood, I don't think it is possible to make wood look like mesquite. So I was thinking of just a rustic look. I saw a floor in Texas and thought that may look good as shelves. See photo below.

To do this easily, the Festool 850 with the special blade would set me back $650.

A Bosch planer is $199 and a scrub plane ($140) would be $340.

I have never done anyhthing like this before. Are both of these options viable? Is one preferred? Anything I am missing?

http://s-lgraham.smugmug.com/photos/429875582_Afnkf-M.jpg

[Scott Rollins]

A scrub plane will look more random than the pic shown. I have done this and it turns out well. I used a 45 degree crosshatch pattern with a fine shaving. Where the grain gets curvy a staight edge clamped to the board helps with guiding the plane as well as keeping it relatively even. I marked a pattern (1" i think) and clamped the staight edge and in about 15-20 minutes I had finished a 48" x 24" table top. I then sanded with a sanding pad (the sponge type) covered in sheets of sandpaper to soften the crests and it was done.
The Veritas (Leevalleydotcom) scrub is great. I use it all the time to rough flatten boards now.

[Carlos Alden]

You know, if you used cedar you might try having it sandblasted a little. That would erode the soft parts between the grain lines (right word = ?) and would look really weatherbeaten. Probably save you some money over getting a new plane or toy, too. But then again, new toys are always fun to get.

Carlos

example of sandblasted ceiling beam:

http://www.sampleservice.com/m-galleryimages/Sand%20blasted%20Wood%2019-024P.jpg

[Lyndon Graham]

A scrub plane will look more random than the pic shown. I have done this and it turns out well. I used a 45 degree crosshatch pattern with a fine shaving. Where the grain gets curvy a staight edge clamped to the board helps with guiding the plane as well as keeping it relatively even. I marked a pattern (1" i think) and clamped the staight edge and in about 15-20 minutes I had finished a 48" x 24" table top. I then sanded with a sanding pad (the sponge type) covered in sheets of sandpaper to soften the crests and it was done.
The Veritas (Leevalleydotcom) scrub is great. I use it all the time to rough flatten boards now.

can you post a pic? Thanks

[Lyndon Graham]

You know, if you used cedar you might try having it sandblasted a little. That would erode the soft parts between the grain lines (right word = ?) and would look really weatherbeaten. Probably save you some money over getting a new plane or toy, too. But then again, new toys are always fun to get.

Carlos



I have sandblasted metal and loved the outcome. I never thought of that, thanks

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Redwood is very expensive as well....rough western red cedar is your best bet. You can take a gouge and put ruts in it like the floor has. Also there's other ways to do it....the funniest one I have ever seen was in a door shop in Santa Fe, NM....beat it with a chain!

After the gouging or chaining you can plane the roughness out and you'll be left with the look of the floor.

[Danny Thompson]

Three thoughts:

1. If you have a scrub plane, do you need the planer?

2. The surface in your reference pic looks like the work of a ball grinder (typically attached to a complressor) or a gouge.

3. Living on the cheap and not really knowing what a scrub plane was at the time, I put a strong camber on a cheap block plane from Lowes to achieve the following:

[Lyndon Graham]

Three thoughts:

1. If you have a scrub plane, do you need the planer?:


I nave neither now, but the cheaper planer can be used for other things.
If I got the Festool, that would be it.

[Chris Padilla]

Cedar is SOFT...SOFT. If you look at it funny, it will dent.

I think what you want is not necessarily rustic but more of a "hand planed" look. I think of rustic as live bark edges, small limbs, etc., but that is me. :)

Redwood *can be* pricey but it depend on where you live. I can't swing a cat without hitting a redwood tree around here! ;) Redwood is also on the softer side.

If you're using cedar or redwood for shelf or table top, keep in mind that they are both soft and will show much wear over time...but you may like that look.

[Per Swenson]

This will work.

[Scott Rollins]

Here is a quick demo for how i create a rustic look.
First I prepare the wood as for any furniture building. (first pic)
I then break out the scrub plane and rake across the board at 45 degrees. the tird pic is cross hatching at 90 degrees to the previous crosshatch. Be careful to go with the grain unless you want tearout. Some tearout looks interestin on a rustic peice though.

[Scott Rollins]

You can also go a little heavier on the cut. See below:

[Scott Rollins]

here is the walnut sample with a coat of shellac. Not even close to finished yet, but it shows the pattern. You can also use dark dyed white oak with success.

[ken gibbs]

So why don't yu try to put a regular finish on it using a tough urethand. Then lets kids and dogs play on for a week. Then add a top coat. :D

[Lyndon Graham]

here is the walnut sample with a coat of shellac. Not even close to finished yet, but it shows the pattern. You can also use dark dyed white oak with success.

Verrry Nice, thanks

How hard is it to sharpen a scrub plane?

[Scott Rollins]

Very easy to sharpen. Use a handheld diamond sharpener and sharpen it like you would a pocket knife. Then remove the burr on the face using a flat piece of glass with super fine sandpaper stuck to it ("scary sharp" method--check rocklerdotcom for the materials). You don't need a super sharp blade but it does help reduce tearout.

[Doug Shepard]

Around here anyway, the redwood would probably cost more than the mesquite and that includes the shipping cost for ordering the mesquite from somewhere. The redwood is not very much harder than cedar either. I'm thinking you could probably find some old recycled 4x? landscaping timbers cheaper than either, and resaw them. The outer face would already be pretty beat up and just need some sand blasting or scrubbing with a wire brush to clean it.