Brushing, wood brushing
Even the strongest wood, under the influence of natural conditions, becomes old over time and acquires a noble appearance. But nature spends a lot of time on such processes. A master engaged in the manufacture of original brushed wood products cannot afford to wait decades for the material to mature, so he analyzed the natural technology of wood aging and created his own special version of processing, which allows to obtain similar results in the shortest possible time. But, unlike the natural long aging process, which makes the tree weaker, modern brushing allows you to increase its strength. The secret is that the processing removes loose layers. The remaining, stronger structures are treated with special chemicals that protect the wood from decay and damage by insects.
Content:
- What is tree brushing
- DIY brushing - which types of wood can I use
- Brushing Stages video
- Chemical brushing
- Brushing tools
- Where and how is aged wood used? video
What is tree brushing
So, brushing is called artificial aging of wood. The name comes from the English brush, which means brush or brushing, in Russia this process is often called structuring. The natural aging process is slow and uneven - more loose layers of wood fall out upon reaching a certain state, dense ones remain, the surface of the wood changes color and becomes embossed.
The brushing process is aimed at making artificially aged material look as similar to natural as possible, this will require:
- give the texture of the material a textured look,
- change the color of the structured surface.
The material is stained in different shades: recesses and pores - in darker, protruding areas - in shades several tones lighter. The easiest option is to apply a normal stain and, without waiting for time, carefully wipe it with a rag. In areas that suggest the presence of scuffs, the wood is partially scraped off.
If conventional tools are used, the process can turn out to be quite long in time, but it will allow creating an original imitation of expensive rare wood species, while the cost of the material will remain affordable.
The scope of brushed materials is quite extensive:
- furniture manufacturing,
- decoration of public premises, halls of restaurants and cinemas, shops,
- decoration in private homes.
Often, the parquet is finished by brushing, by polishing, painting, opening it with varnish, it is given an individual, decorative look that can transform the decor of the whole room and give it a unique charm of antiquity.
DIY brushing - which types of wood can I use
According to their main characteristics, different types of wood differ significantly from each other. Select wood for brushing should be among soft or medium hardness species, such as:
- ash,
- oak,
- larch,
- spruce,
- pine,
- nut.
The wood structure of these species is characterized by a pronounced fibrous structure, the removal of soft fibers located between the annual rings, in fact, will create the desired effect of aged material. The procedure will make the structure more pronounced and contrasting.
The more uniform the structure of the wood, the more complex the process will be. Experts do not recommend using beech, birch, alder, apple or maple for work. However, you can create the desired effect on the surface of any material, only the means and time it will take much more.
Brushing Stages
Wood brushing involves a number of specific operations:
- At the initial processing stage, some of the soft fibers are removed from the surface layer of the material using metal brushes.
- Next, the surface is ground with a polymer abrasive brush, you can also use coarse sandpaper.
- Application of stain or other dyes to the surface of the material, resulting in an aging effect.
- Giving the material perfect smoothness by polishing, opening the surface of varnishes, sometimes multiple. Before applying the next layer, wait for the complete drying of the previous one and process it using thin abrasive materials.
They do all the work with their own hands, but when performing large volumes it is rational to use a brushing tool. It can be an angle grinder or drill with special nozzles - metal or synthetic abrasive brushes, various devices that allow grinding and polishing of wood.
how is roughing performed
you can clean the surface layer of the softest fibers using a metal brush. The movements should be directed in the same direction in which the fiber growth occurred. It is desirable that the speed of movement of the brush in each area was the same. To avoid the appearance of too large recesses and not to destroy the pattern of annual rings, it will be necessary to observe the same pressure on the brush. Appearing deep scratches will significantly degrade the results.
Sometimes, in order to give the processed products an exclusive look, they resort to the use of more crude methods of influencing wood, in order to get the intended relief, deep dents are applied, nicks are made with an ax. Naturally, such processing options can be applied exclusively to large parts of the interior.
It is also important to illuminate the material during operation - in order to obtain a high-quality result, you should place the light source so that the light rays are directed across the fibers - this will make it possible to track the subtleties of the texture that the wood acquires.
A very important point should not be overlooked - before starting work, the workpieces should be dried, humidity should not exceed 15-16%. It is such humidity that will allow the avoidance of the appearance of villi on the treated surface, i.e. raised but not removed fibers.
Sometimes, only universal polymer abrasive brushes are used for work, they work with them in the same way as metal ones, but as a result of processing they get a surface with roughnesses to a lesser extent.
Experts recommend using a brush for brushing wood to moisten the processed material a little - this will reduce the amount of dust. But before the next stage of work, the tree should be well dried.
surface grinding
To remove hairiness and other defects on the processed material, it is polished. Grinding should be done carefully - excessive zeal can lead to the fact that during the operation of the product protruding parts of the material will be chipped. To perform grinding use sandpaper or abrasive brushes.
decorating a brushed surface - we create an aging effect by applying paint
To enhance the effect, it will be necessary to apply a paint coat on the structured surface. Without staining, the effect will be far from complete - mechanical traces of wear alone will not give the wood a truly noble look, but masterfully made stains will change its surface beyond recognition.
Stain is often used as a paint. It is applied to the surface and immediately washed off - the softer layers will have time to change their color, the hard ones will remain painted in natural shades. The natural pattern of wood will manifest itself more vividly, its texture will become more interesting.
To obtain a more decorative look apply gold paint, or other suitable shades. The excess paint should be removed with a spatula, only dents and pores should remain painted over.
If an aged tree will be used to make a floor, shelves or countertops, then the pores and dents present on it will become a place of accumulation of all kinds of contaminants, caring for such a surface will be fraught with certain difficulties.
Therefore, it is recommended to fill in all the irregularities with special putties, since they are colorless and transparent, they will not affect the quality of the picture.
polish and varnish the aged surface
The final stage of work will be polishing the surface, followed by coating with varnish or wax. Significantly enhance the effect of aging using craquelure varnish.
When hardening, its surface is covered with a grid of very small cracks. An extremely original and interesting pattern is obtained if these cracks are wiped with coal dust or paint.
Chemical brushing
The use of chemicals can facilitate the mechanical process of removing fibers, or else do without it. This treatment method is based on the ability of active chemicals to corrode wood fibers. For work, solutions of alkalis or acids, schumanite, and other compounds with caustic properties are used. For convenience, these formulations can be converted into gels by adding gelatin to them.
If caustic solutions have a high concentration, then mechanical processing of wood will not be required; it will be enough to apply and wash off the agents several times. Carefully remove the remnants of caustic agents, especially if they have a soap structure, it will be necessary after the end of the process, when the desired result is achieved.
It should be noted that caustic substances are toxic to humans, when they are used, very sharp unpleasant odors appear, work with them should be done outdoors, with all safety precautions: work should be done with a respirator and goggles, gloves.
If you are using an electric brushing machine, you should protect yourself from the possibility of electric shock and handle rotating parts very carefully.
Having created a relief surface chemically, you can proceed to the further stages of processing the material, they will be exactly the same as those performed by mechanical brushing.
Brushing tool
In order to simplify the brushing process, special tools are used. They have a rather high cost, buying them rationally if it is planned to carry out large volumes of work. For example - flooring from brushed boards.
For wood structuring, initially the following machines:
- Brush + milling cutter FESTOOL RUSTOFIX RAS 180, equipped with two brushes for primary processing.
- Makita 9741 grinding brush equipped with a nylon brush.
- Universal model Metabo SE 12-115, in the configuration of which there are no brushes for brushing, they will need to be purchased separately.
- Brush machines Felisatti AGF 110 / 1010E - a budget version of the device for brushing, equipped with brushes and support rollers.
- There are also professional stationary models that are used in workshops.
Where and how is aged wood used?
As mentioned above, aged wood is used for flooring, it looks interesting brushed parquet.
Furniture brushing is often used - its unique design will create a special, colorful atmosphere in the living room of a country house or office. Such furniture will suitably look in a bar or a restaurant hall; leather, stone, forged decor items will help to emphasize its beauty.
- Wall panels are made from brushed wood, it is used for: manufacturing window sills, mantelpieces, baguettes for mirrors or paintings, platbands for doors,
- cladding of walls and ceilings, balconies,
- constructions of various fences, gates and gates, arbors and bridges in the garden.
Among the advantages of brushed material, it should be noted that it will not be subject to rapid wear during operation - abrasions and scratches are artificially created on it, and new ones will not appear soon - the material processing technology helps protect it from mechanical damage.
In an ordinary city apartment, a brushed tree can be used in the kitchen interior, a combination of this interesting material with wood, clay and copper utensils, tiles decorated with stylized ornaments will be very successful.
The use of natural wood for home decoration, wooden furniture and decor items made of natural material will help create a warm, comfortable, cozy, and most importantly, always fashionable environment - wood has been trending for several millennia and is not going to take its positions.
