Clients of mine have asked for a slab bench, wanting the wood and general appearance to look weathered (“silvered”) and textured.
I think I can get the basic shape using slabs flitched from a log with a live edge, and texture by sandblasting cedar, fir or similar (softwood?), but I’d be happy to hear suggestions how I could “weather / silver” the wood chemically, other than using stain.
I initially told them just to leave it outside for a year, but they’re designey types and well… you know…
Thx,
John
Edited 9/2/2008 10:11 pm ET by iconophile
Edited 9/3/2008 3:41 pm ET by iconophile
Replies
John,
I know the type you speak of.
Before we go any further let's get the wood species they want.
Also, and this is VERY important, have them give you a couple of pictures from magazines(or something) as to what they perceive to be a weathered finish.
Then explain you'll need to make a few samples and they take time so charge for it. These designer types know that time is money. You may not get paid for all the time you put in but be sure to get paid for some of it.
Let them chose the color they want and then go from there. You can always roll the unpaid sample time into the invoice.
Sometimes the hair on my neck stands up and the warning bells go off. Be careful here and get those questions answered. You'll be very glad in the end that you did.
Just how do I know this..........?
Peter
I know exactly what you mean, trust me; learned that the hard way.They're looking at a very nice bookmatched set of hackberry slabs with a fair amount of curl, live edge, live-sawn and air-dried for about one year.
They'd ideally like a result that looks like silvered glossy-grey driftwood, which I've told them may be unrealistic. ;PJohn
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