So, here's the story...
My wife's friend from work is having a baby boy! Her baby shower is coming up, and my wife recruited me to make something for the little guy!
Mom-to-be is being really secretive about the name, so doing a custom gift was a no-go...
No big deal! My wife found out that she is doing a "space" theme for the nursery, which is very cool! She got on Pinterest and sent me a couple of ideas. She told me to do my thing, and let me loose in my workshop to figure it out!
Let's get started!
I started off with a solid 4-foot piece of backer board. This stuff is cheap, lightweight and strong, so it does a great job of supporting my wood signs and other projects.
Now, it was time to come up with the shape. I basically wanted this to be about 2' X 16" in overall dimension...
I sketched out one half of the rocket ship on a piece of foam poster board. Since I want the rocket ship to be symmetrical, I just planned on flipping the stencil to trace the other half onto the backer board.
That worked well! The next step is cutting out the shape on my scroll saw!
Nice!
After a light sanding around the edges, it was time to pick out some wood!
If you've read any of my past blog entries, then you know that I don't like to waste wood. I like to use up scraps and rogue pieces when I can. This project was no exception!
So, I looked through my stash of scrap wood, and pulled out some possible prospects! All of the wood used was 3/4" whiteboard for this project!
I went with a single plank of wood at the top of the rocket ship, then alternated 2:1 going all the way to the bottom. The wood strips are different widths based on what I had available in scrap wood, which I think is going to add to the rustic look of the piece when it's all done!
Next, I secured the wood to the backer board using screws!
This is the most secure way I could think of to make sure it stays together. I could have done wood glue, but I was worried that the planks would eventually come loose from the backer board during all the cutting and/or the decorative "aging" process...
Now that the planks were secured to the backer board, I followed the backer board "stencil" on the scroll saw and cut the shape of the spaceship out of the 3/4" boards!
Perfect!
The sides are a little rough and there's a few jagged edges, so I ran the palm sander along the whole piece to smooth it out!
Now comes the "aging" of the wood!
Since I used normal whitewood board, it really didn't have much texture or character to it. I wanted to give it some more character and really make it look like I used reclaimed wood on the piece. Reclaimed wood is expensive, so I thought I would save myself some cash and do it myself!
I went over the whole surface of the sign with a wire cup brush to rough up the wood and scratch it. This made the wood look a little older, but I wanted more!
Using a chisel, I slowly carved the wood to give it some DEEP and intricate texture. An awl was used to poke "worm holes," which are seen on a lot of reclaimed wood. And lastly, a box cutter helped me with cutting deep grooves and adding more detail.
But, I also didn't want ALL of the planks to look the same! So, I used a similar technique on the remaining boards, but I varied the groove depths or added different details to achieve the different looks. I wanted it to look like the wood came from different barns!
This is the first time I've tried this method, and it really worked well! It just took a little more time and attention to detail to really differentiate the wood.
I could have "beat up" the wood, like I have on previous projects such as the shamrock or the artwork display planks (check out the entries!). However, since this is going in a nursery, I wanted to make sure I took my time and made the wood look really unique rather than just beating it up!
The picture above was after all carving was done in addition to a sanding to remove the really "gnarly" parts. As you can see, all 4 tools that I used to "age" the wood are shown, and each segment of wood looks different!
So, I realized exactly how I wanted to do this project from a paint perspective because of how well it worked on the shamrock project!
Quick recap: on the shamrock project, I painted the piece first, then sanded it down to remove some paint, and then I stained the entire project.
Let's do it again!
The color palette I decided on was different shades of blue; I left one section white as a nice accent board to break up all the blue. Then, I let it dry for 24 hours.
The next day, I took the palm sander to the whole piece to remove quite a bit of the paint. I also used sandpaper by hand to get in the small grooves and crevices as a last measure. See the result below!
I wanted to make sure that enough of the paint was removed so the stain would have something to grab onto, so I kept sanding and sanding by hand to remove more and more paint!
After all the sanding was done, I wiped down the entire piece with a wet rag to remove the sawdust and paint dust. Then I took a step back and admired it!
So cool!
I could have left it just like this and it would have been fine! It definitely looks rustic and aged. But, I wanted to fill in those "naked" spots on the space ship with some stain and finish off the look!
Now that looks like barnwood!
I used Minwax Provincial wood stain on this piece; I wiped it on with a rag to give it a rough look. Also, it makes it easier to get inside all of the crack and creases with my fingers!
The wood stain darkened this piece up pretty drastically. In retrospect, I probably should have used a lighter stain, like Classic Gray or Early American to fill in the bare wood spots, and maybe the piece would have remained a lighter color.
Oh well, let's revisit it in the morning! I put the sign to the side to dry overnight.
After 24 hours, I still wasn't a fan of how dark the stain made the sign overall. So, I took to my palm sander to the sign again and took off some more paint!
THAT'S more like it!
Sanding it down this one last time was exactly what it needed to lighten it up! After getting a wet cloth wipe-down, I let it dry out before applying poly!
I decided to use the water-based poly I used on the wedding gift tray I just finished (check out the blog entry!). This matte finish worked very well on the tray by protecting it, but not making it too shiny, and I think it will do the same for the spaceship!
After hanging a couple "D-ring" hangers on the back, this project is DONE!
I really enjoyed pulling out all the stops on this project and experimenting with new techniques! The chiseling of the wood to give it texture was so much fun; I got lost in my own mind while I was doing it! It reminded me of being back in art class. Plus, it really "aged" the wood well and made each piece look completely different from the piece next to it! I will definitely be using this technique in the future!
And then, there's the layering of paint and stain. Like I discovered on my shamrock project (check it out!), the method of painting the wood first, then sanding it, then adding stain over top really is the best way to ensure that the colors remain true, while also giving the piece a realistic, rustic look! Definitely will be using this technique again as well!
I'm glad I could help my wife out and come up with a meaningful work of art for her coworker's new baby boy! I hope she thinks it's out of this world!
Sorry! I did so well for the entire post, I had to fit one in there!
Congrats Jacqui on your new addition! Hope you enjoy the sign!
-Kevin
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