Top off a Table with a FAUX

Transcription

1 Top off a Table with a FAUX With basic igrediets ad a little magic, you ca trasform MDF ito metal. By Daielle Driscoll There s somethig appealig about the look of galvaized sheet metal. The mottled gray ad silver surface that gives galvaized metal its distictive appearace is created by a molte zic coatig applied to prevet steel from rustig. Farmers have log relied o the durability of galvaized steel for feed buckets, roofig, gates, hardware, ad work surfaces. It s ot surprisig that galvaized tabletops have moved out of the bar ad ito the house, ledig their rugged, rustic appearace to farm-style décor. I wated to create galvaized tabletops ad coutertops, without the hassle of bedig ad fasteig sheet metal. Faux fiish was the solutio. The techique I ll describe ca work o other projects besides tabletops. It ca also be fu ad effective to try o other objects too like cake stads, picture frames, ad servig trays. First steps: primer, ails, ad base coat MDF (medium desity fiberboard) is a good tabletop material for this faux fiish it s flat, dese, ad fairly strog. But it does require good protectio from moisture. After cuttig your pael to size, give corers a slight roudover treatmet with some 120-grit sadpaper. The apply two coats of all-purpose primer to both faces ad all edges. If ecessary, kock dow ay fuzzy, raised grai areas with 220-grit sadpaper, so you re workig with a smooth surface. This gets you set for the silver-toed base coat. 44 Create a realistic edge detail with roofig ails. To mimic the appearace of tacked-dow metal edges, hammer 1" roofi g ails ito the edge of the MDF about every 6". To make the ail-drivig easier ad prevet splittig, I like predrillig the ail holes. Opeig photo: Larry Hamel-Lambert; project photos: Kjeld Mahoey

2 GALVANIZED FINISH White milk pait Disposable brushes 1" roofig ails Silver base coat All-purpose primer Flat top coat Flat water-base varish Gray milk pait Fiishes get you started. The paits you ll eed iclude primer, a silver base coat, ad cotrastig hues that are bleded o the surface to mimic the mottled appearace of real galvaizig. (See Buyer s Guide, p. 62). The High Performace varish provides protectio for your faux fiish. The Flat out Flat varish leaves a true matte fiish top coat that ehaces the faux effect. Top table. This faux galvaized top is a perfect compaio for the Sofa Table o p. 48. A silver base coat for top ad edges. Start by coatig the edges, the use a roller to coat the top. You ca also coat the bottom, if you wat to use it as a practice surface. Aug/Sept 2018 woodcraftmagazie.com 45

3 Start with stripes The mottled appearace of galvaized metal occurs whe bare steel is coated with molte zic. To imitate this look, I apply three differet colors to the medium gray base coat, the bled ad dab them together. To get set, fill three plastic mixig cups with white, dark gray, ad medium gray pait. Make the medium gray by bledig equal parts of white ad dark gray. Start at oe ed of the pael, ad work i sectios about 12" wide. Your stripes of color ca overlap slightly, but do t attempt to bled them with your brushes. You ll get a more realistic effect by spritzig ad dabbig i the ext step. White Dark gray Medium gray Spritz, bled, dab, repeat After applyig the three colors ext to each other, it s time to bled them by dabbig with a paper towel. Keep your compositio molte by spritzig water from a spray bottle. There are a few tricks of the trade you ca rely o to get good results. First of all, keep plety of paper towels o had, because oce a towel becomes saturated with pait, it loses most of its mottlig capability. Avoid the commo mistake of removig too much pait from the surface; puddlig ad layerig will actually ehace the faux effect. A fial tip: Do t be afraid to redo a area by applyig more pait, followed by dabbig ad spritzig. Oce you ve striped, spritzed, ad dabbed oe sectio of the tabletop, repeat this sequece i 12"-wide sectios, all the way across the surface. If you see lap marks, bled them i by spritzig ad dabbig. You ca also apply more pait if ecessary. Mimic molte metal. Create the radom dapplig, puddlig ad layerig of a real zic coatig by spritzig the stripes of pait, ad dabbig the surface with paper towels. Edges last, the varish Oce you re doe with the top, the edges will go quickly. Istead of applyig stripes, dab o three colors, the mottle the fiish with water ad paper towels. Take care to blot away drips alog the bottom edge, ad give the pait plety of time to dry. For metal-like durability, this faux fiish deserves multiple coats of clear fiish. I apply two coats of water-based, high-performace flat varish, to protect the surface. The, I apply a flat top coat for a true matte fiish that ehaces the faux effect. 46

4 Stripes of white, gray, ad dark gray. Startig at oe ed of the pael, brush o stripes of white, gray ad dark gray. Work quickly to apply separate swaths of color. Do t worry about the ratios; you ca always add more color as log as your pait stays wet. Work your way across the top. Whe oe 12"- wide sectio is complete, start the ext sectio by applyig stripes of three colors agai. The repeat your spritzig ad dabbig techique. Metal edges, too. Repeat your techique to fi ish the edges. Aug/Sept 2018 woodcraftmagazie.com 47

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