How can I reproduce a "distressed" look on new wood for rustic projects?

[Terence McGee]

I'm trying out the cozy and vintage themed wood pieces and I was just wondering what typical product combos you guys use for a solid rustic finish? Thanks in advance!

[Steve Demuth]

Are you thinking about distressed indoor look, or weathered? And how distressed - mildly neglected or 100+ years of use and annual cycling, distressed?

[Mark Gibney]

I saw a short video, maybe on this forum, can't remember, in which they used a Sawzall blade on an angle and pulled it across the surface of the board to distress it.
They got a pattern similar to boards fresh from a lumber mill.

[Tom M King]

Here's what I use to "age" new wood to match old, weathered wood with any number of different texture wire wheels.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-co...ce=google&wv=4

[Rob Sack]

I guess it would depend on the look you're after. For a resawn appearance, I have pulled boards backwards through the bandsaw at an angle. For a weathered look or worn look, I use a tool called the Restorer, which looks like a portable planer except you use various drums. The drums are made of different materials such as steel wire, nylon, various abrasives, etc. I believe Makita makes a similar tool. For a distressed antique look, a refinisher I know showed me a neat trick. Instead of using the usual screw drivers, awls, needle nose pliers, etc. to create the distress marks, he used a bundle of keys to distress pieces of furniture. The keys offer a much more realistic appearance of "a hundred years of use and wear", as opposed to the screw drivers, etc. which never look quite realistic.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Beating with various chains, rolling the piece around in a gravel pile....

[Brad Schmid]

This brought back good memories for me of my dad and helping him remodel old houses in the early-mid 70's It was a fad and I can remember time spent beating good lumber with a chain lol