[TheForge] Aging wood

[Andrew Vida]

PlumDon at aol.com wrote:
> We have frequently discussed rusting and aging iron but I have a client for  
> whom I have made a bee hive oven coals scraper and she wants the whole thing  
> aged...including the six foot handle. The iron has come up nicely but I have 
> no  clues as to how one might age wood. I have done the handle in 1-1/4"  
> poplar.
>  
> They are not trying to pass it off as an antique they just want it to match  
> a lot of the other old stuff they have. Also they intend to use it for this  
> Thanksgiving when they cook a turkey in the oven. 
>  
> Any suggestions much appreciated. 

	Don,

	The answer depends largely on what you mean by "aging".  I will make 
the assumption that you really mean mean "aged" and not distressed.

	As far as I can tell, a key in the development of patina in wood is 
oxidation.  Another is polishing (wear), and finally there is 
contamination (dirt, water, oils, etc). These combine to give the common 
effects we observe in old and oft-used pieces of wood.

	There are chemical means of aging, though I have never done this with 
poplar.  But oak, for example, can be artificially aged with ammonia 
fumes, producing that warm golden brown we often see in older pieces of 
furniture.  Stickley used this a lot, as did many others.

	I once made a set of armor piercing knives (Jap. style) that had 
purpleheart handles.  Purpleheart, as cut, is suggestive of brown more 
than purple.  Apply hot air via heat gun and that changes rapidly to 
purple that progressively deepens to near-black.

	Of course you can cheat with stains.  What I would do in that case is 
dilute the stain until there is nearly no pigment in it.  I am a fan of 
aniline dyes, but any stain should do.  Think "dirt" and "old" when 
choosing a color.  If you have an example of an old piece of poplar that 
has been used in a manner similar to that which the piece you are making 
is supposed to emulate, take a good look at it or take it with you to 
the store along with a fresh piece and note the differences.  Then find 
a stain that you feel will give a similar effect when diluted WAY down. 
  When I say "dilute" I mean to the point where there is almost no color 
left.  You then apply this wash to the wood and see what it produces. 
If not enough, add another coat, so to speak, and continue on this way 
until you have the result you are looking for.

	You can even rub dirt into it.  Sweat on it.  Add the things that make 
the real thing what it is.  Put some oil on it to simulate many years of 
hand contact.

	Before adding color, figure what the new surface finish on the piece 
would have been.  Would it have been stoned to a polish or left rough? 
Give it that finish and then speculate on where there would have been 
the most wear from use... usually from the hands, especially in this 
case.  Those areas you can take to a very high polish, say with a 
buffer.  Then do the color work and then rub it out by hand... perhaps 
with some rotten stone, in the areas you want to show some wear.  The 
effects can be pretty convincing and pleasing.

Good Luck.

	-Andy