Achieving finish in picture please

Richb123 · 11 Dec 2018

Hi guys, Went to a restaurant the other day and saw these really nice grey rough effect desks. I don't think they are rough sawn as the textured lines are straight. Any idea how this texture on the surface was created please? Many Thanks. Rich

Beau · 11 Dec 2018

Looks to be off a bandsaw and then bleached

MikeG. · 11 Dec 2018

Well it's certainly off a bandsaw. There are some "liming pastes", which aren't really anything to do with liming at all, but simply some sort of white wax or other white paste, which give results similar to this. That would be my starting point for trying to achieve this look with oak.

ED65 · 12 Dec 2018

That texture sure looks like bandsaw marks. As for the colouring, that could have been achieved through a light staining job but it could simply be through cleaning. Course this theory goes out the window if the parts not commonly in need of a wipe down are all similar in colour

I see no evidence for liming paste having been used as the open grain looks dark throughout and that's what would be filled with white if the table had been 'limed'.

scholar · 12 Dec 2018

Has it been fumed?

(I have no experience of fuming, but want to try it)

Cheers

ED65 · 14 Dec 2018

Scholar, given the type of furniture this is I think fuming is unlikely. Fuming is more for high-end furniture makers and the experimental/tinkerer type than a useful commercial finishing method in the modern world where, in addition to other issues, there'd be all sorts of 'elf an' safety worries.

If you haven't seen it you might like to check out this thread from last year, Ammonia and Oak.