Post #625806 by KokoKele on Mon, Feb 20, 2012 9:13 PM

Glad to help. I can't wait to see your treatment. I added one last pic, above, of a slightly different torture method. Hopefully no one will report me to People for the Ethical Treatment of Wood.

Sandblasting is a great way to "weather" wood, but you're right, it makes a horrific mess without a booth. That fatboy torch I pictured above is about thirteen bucks at Home Depot (in Oregon; probably forty clams in Hawaii) and should do the trick for you. Don't be afraid to char the wood, it adds to the effect and the soot brushes right off. I used a regular steel wire brush to get the soot off and didn't notice a bunch of unwanted scratching. Just use a fine bristle wire brush and you'll be good to go. After burning you'll find that the grain is much deeper, and of course more pronounced. It shouldn't take too much goofing around with scrap wood before you're feeling good about your results and ready to dominate your cannon cradle.