[Crafty]

I've never done much fine finishing on wood, some hand carving, but I have a project I've been planning and pricing. I want to open my own salon and build the work stations myself, most pre-made ones are poorly designed and bland looking.

I want to build a station thats 20x35x50 (DxHxL) with 4 drawers , 7 cabinets, and a small hand-wash sink. On the face i want to carve spiral-graph images with a router and finish it in silver. Possibly going back over the design with black to bring it out. I really don't know what to use for a vibrate silver finish I'd really like the aged/ tarnished look. Any tips would be great.

 

[Tony B]

look up refinishing supplies on the internet. There are very very fine powders that can be mixed with lacquer and sprayed on the surface. If done properly, It will look like solid silver. These powdered metals can be bought in several levels of brass, aluminum, gold silver, copper, etc.
I haven't bought any in several years so I wouldn't know who to check with. Mohawk refinishing supplies would be a good place to start. These powders are great and you will love them. I used them a lot on the antique claw feet metal covers. They usually were plated with brass over a cheaper metal. I would clean the rusted areas, sand well, coat with a lacquer sealer/primer and mix the powdered brass with lacquer and spray.

 

[Steve Neul]

Can you post a picture? I've never heard of vibrate silver finish. I don't think it is as simple as bronzing powder that Tony suggested, that is just silver paint. It sounds more complex than that. Perhaps the silver paint is the base color and it is antiqued. Silver can also be purchased in sheets like gold leaf and glued to the substrate with a sizing liquid.

 

[cabinetman]

I've never done much fine finishing on wood, some hand carving, but I have a project I've been planning and pricing. I want to open my own salon and build the work stations myself, most pre-made ones are poorly designed and bland looking.

I want to build a station thats 20x35x50 (DxHxL) with 4 drawers , 7 cabinets, and a small hand-wash sink. On the face i want to carve spiral-graph images with a router and finish it in silver. Possibly going back over the design with black to bring it out. I really don't know what to use for a vibrate silver finish I'd really like the aged/ tarnished look. Any tips would be great.

I've used oil base paints called "chrome", "aluminum", similar to this. They are in the paint department in the metallics section, and are available in spray cans or ½ pt and up cans. They need to be stirred frequently. They look pretty good. They can be lightly rag dragged with darker colors of solid colors to look aged.

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[Bill White 2]

I believe that the word should have been "vibrant", not vibrate.:laughing:
Bill