What is Wood Brashing?

Wood scaling is not an ordinary technological process, the result of which is a change in the appearance of the joinery. Wood that has undergone such processing acquires the appearance of the old product. In other words, this is the process of artificial aging of the material mentioned.

Under antiquity

A quite reasonable question may arise: "Why is all this necessary? After all, a new product is always better than the old one." But only those who have never seen products made of brushed wood can ask it. The texture of the old tree is very expressive, and furniture products from it look extremely effective. They help create a special style and are an integral part of the interiors stylized under the feudal era. Brashing of wood allows the beginning of the third millennium to make furniture that could decorate knight castles of the Early Middle Ages. Therefore, this technology is very promising and in demand in the carpentry market. Artificial aging is often subjected to whole wooden structures on the basis of log cabins.

Technological features

The desired effect is achieved by treating the material with special metal brushes. The very name of this technological process comes from the English word "brush", which means "brush." Brashing of wood is achieved due to the fact that the rotating metal tool chooses softer fibers, located on the entire surface of the tree between the annual rings. After processing, there is a textured natural surface. Special expressive possibilities of wood are opened with its subsequent processing with abrasive materials and tinting coatings. Brush technology is quite complex and time consuming. But the result achieved justifies the efforts expended.

Brashing of wood: tools and equipment

It is very difficult to scratch the wooden surface manually. Ideally, the wood is scraped for a specially designed machine with a set of replaceable cylindrical brushes of different rigidity. But this technique is not cheap, the retail price of a similar machine is about a thousand dollars. If professional equipment is for some reason not available, then you can use a Bulgarian or a drill with a set of wire brush brushes. Of course, to ensure the technological process requires a special room with a workbench and clamps. In the mass production of carpentry products with a brushed surface, exhaust ventilation is mandatory.

Brashing of wood at home

Many skilled carpenters craftsmen tried to age wood at home. For all the complexity of the process, it is quite accessible. A master working for himself, even has some advantages over professionals - no one hurries him. But the scraping of wood with their own hands requires, in addition to patience and skill, also the possession of at least a minimal tool base. You need a set of metal brushes and devices that give them a spin. The drive can be either stationary or manual. It should be understood that only wood with pronounced annual rings makes sense. There are sorts of wood that do not make sense in this way. This is primarily beech, maple, alder and teak. Annual rings are most distinctly expressed in such varieties as ash, larch, oak and walnut. Or in such exotic wood of valuable breeds as merbau and wenge. It should be understood that it is impossible to achieve the desired result by brushing brushes alone. Expressive texture is achieved by alternating brush and abrasive tools. The grinding machine goes over the surface and after the application of toning, from this it becomes the most contrast. At the end of the process, the product is varnished. The coating can be either glossy or matt.

Safety precautions

Brashing of wood is associated with the use of various kinds of electromechanical equipment. Moving parts of it rotate with great speed and can pose a serious danger. To avoid injury, the workplace must be appropriately shaped. The workpiece to be processed must be securely fixed with clamps or stationary vice. In the process of scaling, a lot of dust rises into the air, and sharp elements fly off the wire brushes at high speed. Therefore, you should protect your respiratory system with a respirator, and your eyes - with special shockproof glasses. And, of course, this kind of carpentry should be performed outside the living quarters. As already mentioned, the use of exhaust ventilation is highly desirable.