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.....

[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.....

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.