[mattsk8]

Picked this up to try it out mainly for it's ability to "age" wood. Basically run the tool over a piece of wood, and it gives it a light driftwood looking effect. In this case I used roasted red oak. Here is the tool, I know, China, but the Makita version is around $600 and I'll never justify that for as little as I'll use it... Bauer Surface Conditioning Tool

Then I had to purchase this from Amazon. You can get different grits, I started out with 60, and honestly don't see much need to use the 80 because this worked well... Amazon Nylon Sanding Drum

In short, I'm very happy with the tool, did what I needed to well. I started out pushing too hard and got a little burning, then figured out that if I don't push at all and just let the tool eat it did a fantastic job with no burning. This was on a rough planed piece of wood, I won't do that agin, I'll finish plane the piece before doing this when I actually ise it on a project. Although I am curious what it'll do to a rough sawn piece as well, I'll try that next.

This tool is also good for knocking rust and scale off steel, for example if you were going to paint a rusty, steel frame you could do this rather than sand blasting if you didn't have a sand blaster.

Again, pretty versatile tool, I don't regret picking it up. I'll post pics of the tool, then post again with the board I did.

This is what it comes with, minus the nylon wheels I got thru Amazon (gray with yellow centers). Kinda nice that it includes the allen wrenches, as well as spare brushes that I'll more than likely lose...

 

[mattsk8]

And here's the board before...

And this is after. It was tough to get the grain, hopefully it shows up in this picture...

Wanted to also add that for just doing this, it didn't kick much dust at all, guessing it's more fibers than actual dust. I'll still wear a mask, but a sander with a dust bag (as opposed to a dust collector hooked to it) makes a lot more dust than this did. I imagine if I was sanding with it, it would make a giant mess. Kinda curious how this will do prepping a deck for a restain.

 

[mattsk8]

Just tried ot on a piece of hickory for the heck of it... The hickory basically gave me the finger and started laughing at me, made no difference lol. So if you're planning on trying this on hickory you'll need to get more creative than this.

 

[Joe Fairplay]

Do you find the finish to be too patternized? That has always been the complaint about this process.

 

[pinwheel]

Thanks for the report. I'm sure it's in my not so distant future.

 

[mattsk8]

Do you find the finish to be too patternized? That has always been the complaint about this process.

Not necessarily with this oak, which so far seems to be the only thing it works on. I've tried walnut, maple, and hickory and it didn't do much at all to any of those. I want to try it on knotty alder, read that looks cool when you do this to that, but they used a wire wheel, not this nylon drum. And I don't have a piece of knotty alder at the moment. So far it's a one trick pony, but I'm guessing it would make a pine board look cool too.

I'll figure out a use, someone with a beach house somewhere wants to pay a million dollars for a crappy looking vanity lol.

 

[mattsk8]

I'm going to end up with way too much money into this, but I just found this and I'm guessing this is a lot more aggressive... SIGNI 120mm Stainless Steel Wire Brush Wheel

 

[Joe Fairplay]

I think it's used a lot with pine to make a distressed look.
On harder materials is can almost be like a polish.
The bigger question is why would you want to distress a hardwood?

 

[pinwheel]

I think it's used a lot with pine to make a distressed look.
On harder materials is can almost be like a polish.
The bigger question is why would you want to distress a hardwood?

Because I like making money. Not everyone wants things that look perfect. It takes a different eye to make rustic sexy & very profitable.

I have a lot of clients that want rough sawn lumber finished smooth. That's where a machine like this will shine IMO. My plan is to actually take weathered wood & make it smooth to the touch & put finish on it so it's cleanable, but still retain the rustic look.

 

[rrk]

Because I like making money. Not everyone wants things that look perfect. It takes a different eye to make rustic sexy & very profitable.

I have a lot of clients that want rough sawn lumber finished smooth. That's where a machine like this will shine IMO. My plan is to actually take weathered wood & make it smooth to the touch & put finish on it so it's cleanable, but still retain the rustic look.

You are trying to clean it up where as Matt is trying to wear it down. The wide brush does not get into the softer marts of the grain, I use a drill mounted wire wheel to get those spots. Take a long time.

A supplier of mine has a feed through wire wheel machine they use to remove paint from old beams and soften rough cut beams. It will not make new wood look old, that is done with a horizontal bandsaw fed with a higher feed rate and a bad blade on the saw

 

[pinwheel]

You are trying to clean it up where as Matt is trying to wear it down. The wide brush does not get into the softer marts of the grain, I use a drill mounted wire wheel to get those spots. Take a long time.

A supplier of mine has a feed through wire wheel machine they use to remove paint from old beams and soften rough cut beams. It will not make new wood look old, that is done with a horizontal bandsaw fed with a higher feed rate and a bad blade on the saw

When I'm trying to make new wood look old, I've got 1" bandsaw blade that I've bent several teeth on & I tighten the fence to 1/8" less than the thickness of my material. Then I feed through the bandsaw backwards. I vary speed as I go through to get different saw patterns. I've done similar with a 10" circle saw blade on my tablesaw with fair to med results. I just get better results with the bandsaw.

I've got a lot of roughsawn material, some reclaimed, some new that's been out in the weather & some reclaimed. That's where I think this brush machine will shine in our operation.

 

[pinwheel]

Here's a project we done several years ago where we mixed new & old woods. I just sanded the rough sawn to smooth on the panels. The brush sander would have made that easier I think. Took this project over mid project. Much of the design work was already done before we got there. The bar all came out of my head & made me do a bit of head scratching, especially fitting the top between those two posts.

 

[mattsk8]

Because I like making money.

Bingo, everyone wants it these days.

A supplier of mine has a feed through wire wheel machine they use to remove paint from old beams and soften rough cut beams. It will not make new wood look old, that is done with a horizontal bandsaw fed with a higher feed rate and a bad blade on the saw

Check the last link I posted. I think that wheel will work nicely on a piece of rough sawn on this machine, just hope it isn't too aggressive. I'll know when it gets delivered Tuesday. @pinwheel, I have some rough sawn black oak (legit rough sawn, not rough planed like the last piece) I can try both the nylon drum and the wire wheel on. I'll post pics of that once I get the wire wheel drum this Tuesday.

 

[Wenderacy]

I'm glad to hear that the tool worked well for you and that you were able to achieve the effect you were looking for on your piece of roasted red oak. It's always great to find a tool that can do multiple things well, and it sounds like this one fits the bill. Thanks for sharing the link to the nylon sanding drum you got from Amazon, that could be a helpful resource for others who are looking to try out this tool. But have you tried using an online measurement tool like ruler.onl to measure the dimensions of your pieces of wood or other materials? It can be a convenient way to get precise measurements without having to break out a physical ruler or measuring tape.

 

[Tom M]

Picked this up to try it out mainly for it's ability to "age" wood. Basically run the tool over a piece of wood, and it gives it a light driftwood looking effect. In this case I used roasted red oak. Here is the tool, I know, China, but the Makita version is around $600 and I'll never justify that for as little as I'll use it... Bauer Surface Conditioning Tool

Then I had to purchase this from Amazon. You can get different grits, I started out with 60, and honestly don't see much need to use the 80 because this worked well... Amazon Nylon Sanding Drum

In short, I'm very happy with the tool, did what I needed to well. I started out pushing too hard and got a little burning, then figured out that if I don't push at all and just let the tool eat it did a fantastic job with no burning. This was on a rough planed piece of wood, I won't do that agin, I'll finish plane the piece before doing this when I actually ise it on a project. Although I am curious what it'll do to a rough sawn piece as well, I'll try that next.

This tool is also good for knocking rust and scale off steel, for example if you were going to paint a rusty, steel frame you could do this rather than sand blasting if you didn't have a sand blaster.

Again, pretty versatile tool, I don't regret picking it up. I'll post pics of the tool, then post again with the board I did.

View attachment 546770

This is what it comes with, minus the nylon wheels I got thru Amazon (gray with yellow centers). Kinda nice that it includes the allen wrenches, as well as spare brushes that I'll more than likely lose...

View attachment 546771

Did you use this on the truck project with your son?.

I am going to tackle my bed rails finally next week. Found a welder that wanted a side job. Going to pull the bed a clean everything I can see to freshen/restore. Thought about this tool.
My bed liner trapped water and debris adding damage so I may do both sides.

 

[mattsk8]

Did you use this on the truck project with your son?.

I am going to tackle my bed rails finally next week. Found a welder that wanted a side job. Going to pull the bed a clean everything I can see to freshen/restore. Thought about this tool.
My bed liner trapped water and debris adding damage so I may do both sides.

Sorry for the late reply, been a bit since I was here. We were already pretty deep into the truck project by the time I got this. He had the frame sandblasted and powder coated so didn't need it for that. We did just cut out the floor pan in his cab, but a wire wheel in a die grinder was easier to maneuver up by the front where we cut it out.

For body work, it's a big tool. Would be great for stripping something like a frame but for body work I don't see it being too useful.

 

[rrk]

On sale now

9 Amp Surface Conditioning Tool

Amazing deals on this 9A Surface Conditioning Tool at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[Tom M]

Dam that's a big drop.
I almost returned the tool but decided I not too

 

[hdavis]

I'm a sucker for a $100 tool.