faux finishing

[chowcini]

I have a friend that is looking at using a faux finish (two tone) or crackling on some pine furniture and was wondering if anyone has experience in this matter, cheers

[Ian Wells]

I have a friend that is looking at using a faux finish (two tone) or crackling on some pine furniture and was wondering if anyone has experience in this matter, cheers

I used to make paints to do crackling, all of them are difficult to use, unreliable in almost any formulation, liable to peel,continue cracking or just not work depending on surface moisture, air temperature/humidity and they usually end up looking awful and overdone.
Plus as they are in reality damaged paint they often will come off on clothes, furnishing etc. They are also difficult to remove if it all goes wrong and sealing them usually exacerbates the problems as most work on a moisture or solvent differential to activate.

Short answer ; don't do it
local libraries usually have a whole section on decorative paint finishes as they were very popular in the early 90's, the English books usually are the best or have the most subtle/realistic techniques.
hope this helps
ian

[chowcini]

Thanks for the advice ian ,you might be glad to here the he ended up with a 2pak table and chairs instead -bloody craftwood still better thasn painting timber i suppose

[toolbagsPLUS]

As always there a differing results. I used to do quite a bit of it and had no problems. Used Jo Sonia products mostly and some matisee.

Patience is the key to the success I have found. Having got to enthusiastic to early and tried to speed the process up with a heat gun or hurry the desired result is the catalyst to failure in my experience.

Take your time and finish with a good sealer finish. Their are some good water based clear finishes on the market now or many I just used a clear spray enamel and had not dramas with stain or colour rubbing off.

Just have a go and see for yourself.

Cheers

Steve

[astrid]

dont care for the crackling
I've seen some lovely faux finishes done on edwardian furniture.
basicly prepare a piece of timber to 600 grit or higher,
brush on one coat of shellac.
make up a bundle of cloth round a marble, or make up a fad with some heavily patterned damask as a cover. dip it in coloured shellac you can do this with prooftint, but i prefer to keep to umber, amber, sienna etc
stamp/roll your fad on the prepared surface.
thats the general idea anyway.
when you've got a finish you like, give it another coat of shellac or two.

cos your using shellac not paint, the finish is translucent and will flash like flames in the sun.

you need to experiment a bit but its fun and cheap

I have heard that if you want to craze FP, you polis as usual, let it dry well then wipe over straght dishwashing liquid, let it dry then put more polish on top :dunno

[Ian Wells]

lovely idea Astrid, I've "fauxed up" a few fake Bakelite pieces that way. Fake tortoiseshell is similar if done over silver leaf with a bit more of a dab and wipe technique. I've found old 78 records in metho give a beautiful dense black.
The crazing technique you describe is how most of the cracking techniques work ie, an intermediary layer to allow the top layer to shrink and crack as it drys. The coconut oil in most dish washing liquids would be the active ingredient here, i imagine, but being saponnified it would allow some boding with the underlying layer. You are still creating a weakened film that will be vulnerable. ie. what happens to the soap when it gets damp or humid?

ian