Make your own driftwood finished mouldings

Not your average framer · Mon 10 Dec, 2007 9:44 pm

I've discovered that you can make a very acceptable looking driftwood effect using "hard as nails" and a rubber graining comb.

It's easy, mix the "hard as nails" with a little white paint to make it slightly thinner so you can brush it on. The run the graining comb along the painted on mixture and set it with a hot air gun, close enough to heat it,but not so close as to affect the finished texture.

fineedge · Post by **fineedge** » Mon 10 Dec, 2007 10:56 pm

What is "hard as nails"? Sounds like some sort of crack filla for walls.
I have used the comb before and found that it can also be quite interesting burning the surface of the wood slightly with the heat gun here and there to add authenticity to the battered look.

kev@frames · Post by **kev@frames** » Tue 11 Dec, 2007 12:23 am

do you mean stuff like gripfil? (no more nails?).
We used to get a really good "driftwood" from a previous supplier (westward art frames) , it was made from floorboards from a church demolition project.
we shifted, literally, 1000s of ft of it. Customers loved it, rusty nail holes, worm holes and all.
IU'd love to get some more.
(Obviously the worm etc had all been treated, but the stuff was really great, "roughas rats" as they say).

daviddeer · Post by **daviddeer** » Tue 11 Dec, 2007 6:41 am

What is "hard as nails"?

It's a overcoat for strengthening nails.
Review here
Supposed to protect delicate fingernails, please note...... it doesn't stop Morso blades!!

Not your average framer · Tue 11 Dec, 2007 5:52 pm

"Hard as nails" is a competitor to "No more nails". It sticks to almost anything, it has enormous structural strength and dries very hard. It's nice an thick and will retain any texture applied to it while it dries. It's also cheap as chips.

I use it as a sandable repair filter, a texturising medium and something to wipe into the joins between stacked mouldings before hand-finishing the whole lot as one moulding. It used to be available in shop local to me, but now I have to really look around to find it.

Post by **prospero** » Tue 11 Dec, 2007 6:56 pm

Good tip NYAF.

I'll have to try it if I can find some.

I use smooth ripple paint a lot for texturing (the ceiling stuff). It also makes a good primer and you can lay it in with a shovel as it is about £10 for 5Lt. It dries fast and if you keep working it with comb while it dries you end up with a nice 'rough sawn' effect. Blasting it with a heat gun as it is drying will cause it to bubble and blister which makes an interesting distressed gesso finish. Working a thick coat with the back of a spoon gives a sort of rough plastered wall effect which goes well on mediterranean type pictures.

kev@frames · Post by **kev@frames** » Tue 11 Dec, 2007 8:17 pm

Not your average framer wrote:"Hard as nails" is a competitor to "No more nails". .....
I use it as a sandable repair filter ....

Think I'll try that! thanks for the tip.

Not your average framer · Tue 11 Dec, 2007 10:41 pm

prospero wrote:Blasting it with a heat gun as it is drying will cause it to bubble and blister which makes an interesting distressed gesso finish

Hi Prospero,

Some companies which supply the boatbuilding industry, sell a light wight filler or thickener for including into epoxy resin, this filler is refered to as Micro-Ballons.

If you mix these into acrylic paint and then pick the right time when the paint is slightly thickening, then a quick blast with a very hot heat gun will cause any of these close enough to the surface to explod and blow holes in the finish.

It works better some times than others, I'm yet to work out the most succesful way of doing this. It makes tiny little holes like those in the finish on Arqadia Ferrossa mouldings. There are various different manufacturers of these micro-ballons, so some may work differently to others!

Not your average framer · Mon 31 Dec, 2007 8:55 pm

Having almost ran out of "Hard as nails", I ordered a box of 12 tubes of it which arrived earlier this month. Unfortunately when I opened the box, they had sent an alternative product, which is useless for want I want it for.

So today I tried a little experiment by mixing some Extramite with some acrylic paint. The result were great! It holds the texture really well, dries very quickly when blasted with a heat gun and is rock hard when dry.

For those who are wondering Extramite is a Casin resin wood glue in powder form. It was previously called Cascamite.

Spit · Post by **Spit** » Mon 31 Dec, 2007 8:57 pm

Not your average framer wrote:For those who are wondering Extramite is a Casin resin wood glue in powder form. It was previously called Cascamite.

The aussies use it too, they call it vegemite....

osgood · Post by **osgood** » Mon 31 Dec, 2007 9:07 pm

I prefer Marmite!

Moglet · Post by **Moglet** » Mon 31 Dec, 2007 9:23 pm

Marmite....(barf....)

I'm one of those who really, really hates the stuff. Blyeccchhhh!!!

Not your average framer · Mon 31 Dec, 2007 10:12 pm

When I was a kid we had "cod liver oil and malt extract". So who remembers that stuff and do they feel sick just remembering it?

w00dward · Post by **w00dward** » Tue 01 Jan, 2008 12:11 am

Yuck! I hate the stuff, my wife and daughter can't get enough of it. I can tell when they have opened the jar from the other side of the house. For the next couple of hours I walk around the place with a nato issue gas mask on. I'd rather wear that than smell Marmite.

Moglet · Post by **Moglet** » Tue 01 Jan, 2008 2:29 pm

In fairness, Marmite had a great advertising agency a while back. There aren't many companies that would be gutsy enough to market their product based on the strength of its disgust factor. Like you, Paul, I find the smell of it enough to produce a very unpleasant, visceral reaction. I wouldn't even dream of putting the stuff anywhere near my lips. Yeeeeeeuuuuuukkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!

NYAF, my grandmother used to feed my mother and her siblings stuff like that. Also stewed nettles and senna tea. Fair dues to my mother - she didn't pass the tradition on (apart from one attempt to get me to take the cod liver oil/mailt combo. She would have had it much easier trying to give a cat a pill...

osgood · Post by **osgood** » Tue 01 Jan, 2008 7:45 pm

w00dward wrote:Yuck! I hate the stuff, my wife and daughter can't get enough of it. I can tell when they have opened the jar from the other side of the house. For the next couple of hours I walk around the place with a nato issue gas mask on. I'd rather wear that than smell Marmite.

I feel the same way about bananas. Bloody putrid monkey food!

I love Marmite and have it almost every day on toast for brekky. It's got lots of vitamin b.
I also love malt extract, but certainly not with cod liver oil!

Spit · Post by **Spit** » Tue 01 Jan, 2008 8:09 pm

osgood wrote:I also love malt extract, but certainly not with cod liver oil!

There's only one way to take malt, and that's as a double.