AJB Temple
Sequoia
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2019
- Messages
- 7,720
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One of the ways I have seen an old craftsmen who tried (and failed 
do an "aged" new finish is to apply a little wax in random areas before Frenching. This stops the polish adhering properly in a few places. When dry, wipe down quite aggressively and do it all over again, so that the build up shifts. It's extremely effective in creating a worn look, but I've never tried it myself so have no feel for how much skill is involved.
A while ago I had to copy a badly damaged chair for a historic building (never again!) but he aged and finished it. I wish we had filmed it now (he's passed away sadly) and the techniques looked effortless but somewhat passed me by. The old restorers had extensive blending kits. One thing is for sure, to get an aged look, modern finishes are not suitable.
One thing that he used is wax from old bee frames. They start off golden fresh wax in the first year, then as the colony re-uses them they get brown and in places turn almost black. When used for polish you get very different colour depths of wax. I suggest worth collecting a few. I can probably help with the raw materials if you want Mike should you decide to try this. Fresh wax is readily available, but mucky wax is not.
do an "aged" new finish is to apply a little wax in random areas before Frenching. This stops the polish adhering properly in a few places. When dry, wipe down quite aggressively and do it all over again, so that the build up shifts. It's extremely effective in creating a worn look, but I've never tried it myself so have no feel for how much skill is involved. A while ago I had to copy a badly damaged chair for a historic building (never again!) but he aged and finished it. I wish we had filmed it now (he's passed away sadly) and the techniques looked effortless but somewhat passed me by. The old restorers had extensive blending kits. One thing is for sure, to get an aged look, modern finishes are not suitable.
One thing that he used is wax from old bee frames. They start off golden fresh wax in the first year, then as the colony re-uses them they get brown and in places turn almost black. When used for polish you get very different colour depths of wax. I suggest worth collecting a few. I can probably help with the raw materials if you want Mike should you decide to try this. Fresh wax is readily available, but mucky wax is not.
