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Step 1 - Be a manicured woman in heels. Step 2 - Walk in to Home Depot and ask where the blowtorches might be located. Step 3 - Enjoy the reaction.
27 bucks later me and hot stuff walked out of Home Depot.
What is the blowtorch for, other than being badass, you wonder? The dealio is that the blow torch is supposed to give raised grain. How you ask? Well, supposedly you torch the daylights out of the wood, then take a steal brush and brush the wood. The softer parts of the wood will scrape off leaving the harder parts of the wood raised.
Safety first. I recommend all safety equipment (gloves & goggles). Remove all flammables from the area. Have a pitcher of water close by. Say a little prayer. Maybe take one last look at your un-singed eyebrows. Follow the directions to attach the torch to the propane tank and light 'er up.
Let's raise some grain, shall we?
Adjust the flame down quite bit and with long even strokes, slowly sweep the flame along the wood. Don't stay in one place too long. You don't want your piece to light on fire. My pieces was tempted a couple times. But it never did. Here's what it looked like after I was done torching it:
You can see the grain start to raise:
And finally after just a bit scraping. You get this loveliness:
♥! Yay! So exciting to be able to create raised grain without years of weathering! And it couldn't have been easier.
Now...does it make me a pyro if I now want to torch everything?? :-)
Next step is to experiment with finishes.
Step 1 - Be a manicured woman in heels. Step 2 - Walk in to Home Depot and ask where the blowtorches might be located. Step 3 - Enjoy the reaction.
Which namely was..."You want a blowtorch?"
I was shown the tiniest, daintiest, most delicate one they had. It looked like the cheapie piece of junk I bought for my creme bruleeing, which never works and I curse at each time I use it. Um, no. I'm gonna need something...bigger. Now this? That's more like it. That's...well...let's just call it what it is shall we: badass.
27 bucks later me and hot stuff walked out of Home Depot.
And I'll preempt your next question: Nope, I've never done this. I know...I'm a little worried for me too. So let's, um, test this on something we haven't invested blood, sweat and tears on. Namely, a cheap crate from the craft store I had on hand.
Safety first. I recommend all safety equipment (gloves & goggles). Remove all flammables from the area. Have a pitcher of water close by. Say a little prayer. Maybe take one last look at your un-singed eyebrows. Follow the directions to attach the torch to the propane tank and light 'er up.
Let's raise some grain, shall we?
Adjust the flame down quite bit and with long even strokes, slowly sweep the flame along the wood. Don't stay in one place too long. You don't want your piece to light on fire. My pieces was tempted a couple times. But it never did. Here's what it looked like after I was done torching it:
 |
| You want some places torched more than others |
Now take a steel brush and brush away the char.
You can see the grain start to raise:
And finally after just a bit scraping. You get this loveliness:
♥! Yay! So exciting to be able to create raised grain without years of weathering! And it couldn't have been easier.
Now...does it make me a pyro if I now want to torch everything?? :-)
Next step is to experiment with finishes.
Hahaha! I can totally picture you in Home Depot. Our old house was a fixer upper and I got many of the same looks when I'd stop by on my way home from work. Yes, just because I'm in a skirt and heels doesn't mean I don't know how to use a power tool...
ReplyDeleteMike got a welder a while back, I totally wanted to flip the helmet down and weld everything in sight!
Hahaha...exactly. OOOOhhh welding. THAT would be neato.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to come up with things for my Christmas list...now I have the solution - a blowtorch! I wonder what my father will say, lol :)
ReplyDeleteHahaha Sarah! Hope you get it! ;-)
ReplyDelete