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Discussion Forum

Distressing steel so it looks old

popawheelie | Posted in General Discussion on May 16, 2009 10:32am

I’m at the initial design/planning stake of building an old looking steel fence.

I looked at the http://www.kingmetals.com website and am a little overwhelmed with all the info and possibilities for building a fence. I haven’t talked to them yet.

They had hammered steel that is supposed to look old. 

So I went buy our local metal place and the guy said buying regular steel from him would be much less expensive and I could distress it myself. He suggested using a grinder. He didn’t recommend the hammered because it looked to uniform.

Does anyone have experience distressing steel so it looks old? The grinder should be a good place to start, but I don’t want it to look like someone just took a grinder to it. I was thinking I could take a ballpeen hammer to it.

I could put pieces of steel on a bench laid out next to each other and get one side of them. Like ganging up lumber for a cut. Then just turn them for the next side.

I will have posts, rails, and pickets to do.

One other thing I was thinking of doing was painting it with a series of thick coats of paint so it looked old. Maybe the combination of distressing it and painting will do the trick.

If I can distress this myself and save some money I like that. I can still order some parts from king. I’d just get the big stuff local.

I talked to my neighbor and he has a small arc welder I can tack it together with. I’ve never welded but a small fence should be fine.

Any suggestions?

 

“There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.“
Will Rogers


Edited 5/16/2009 3:37 pm by popawheelie

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Replies

  1. plumbbill | May 16, 2009 10:55pm | #1

    How many pieces do you have to do, & what is your time worth?

    You can distress the metal with an arc welder too.

     

    1. User avater
      popawheelie | May 17, 2009 03:44am | #7

      I don't realy think about how much my time is worth. I think this fence will really set off the yard and the stone work I've done. It will give it an old time look I'm after.

      I went out and measured. There are three sections. 8', 13', and 25 feet.

      So the scale isn't that large. Perfect for a nice little fence.

      I included a pic of the stone work that sits right off the sidewalk.

      I think a low steel picket fence will really go well with the stone.

      I want to do something that is only maybe three feet tall at the posts and slopes down in between them.

      I'm trying to mke my work look authentic. I think the black wrought iron will help.

      "There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers

      Edited 5/16/2009 8:48 pm by popawheelie

      1. User avater
        Dam_inspector | May 17, 2009 04:00am | #9

        I painted my "distressed" , (well rusted) steel railings with rustoleum hammered paint. I got it at lowes in a quart can. I suggest you give it a test. It goes on smooth, then kind of lumps up. It also is two toned silver and black, which leaves a blackened metal look. If you try it, stir the stuff all the time or it seperates.

        1. PedroTheMule | May 17, 2009 04:11am | #10

          Hi Dam_inspector,

          I painted my "distressed" , (well rusted) steel railings with rustoleum hammered paint. I got it at lowes in a quart can. I suggest you give it a test. It goes on smooth, then kind of lumps up. It also is two toned silver and black, which leaves a blackened metal look. If you try it, stir the stuff all the time or it seperates.

          I did a computer case with their spray bomb....didn't realize they had it available in a can....I'll look for it next time in.

          Pedro the Mule - Stuff gives my fur a metallic look

  2. sapwood | May 17, 2009 12:38am | #2

    You've heard the expression, " You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." Well what you want to do is sort of the same except you want to start with silk and make a sow. It ain't easy. Simply distressing with a ball peen hammer isn't completely the way. Think about it.... What makes an old fence look old. What exactly are you seeing? Some rust, some peeling paint, a bit of leaning, a few broken or bent parts... And it is weathered. To accomplish what you want, you'll have to achieve all those things. And on top of that, you seem to want the look of cast iron but may start with structural steel. They are two different materials with some of the same dna.

    So I think you have to make up your mind that what your idea can be approximated, but not equaled. At least not without a lot.... repeat: A LOT, of effort.

    Here's what I'd suggest: First get a bit of the steel material you plan to start with and build a test section of fence. Now, distress it a bit. Hit it about, shout at it, drag it behind your truck down a gravel road. Leave it out in the rain for a couple weeks. Spritz some muriatic acid on it... leave it out another week. Is it starting to look like what you want? If not, ask yourself how it needs to look different. Then do that. Repeat.

    Now after all that maybe you'll have a good idea of what it will take to make this fence. You might then decide to make a new looking fence, and wait till it gets old all on its own.

    Trust me... I've been down a similar road.

  3. DanH | May 17, 2009 12:39am | #3

    Distressing it without some automated equipment would be quite tedious. Best I can think of is to put on several thick coats of paint, beat it with a chain, then more paint.

    Although you might be able to do something interesting with the arc welder.

    The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
  4. PedroTheMule | May 17, 2009 01:34am | #4

    Hi popawheelie,

    I'm at the initial design/planning stake of building an old looking steel fence.

    Gotta gravel driveway?

    That's what I did for a similar project. I raked the top layer of part of my drive in a turn to the side. Laid in the steel and raked the gravel back over it. Drove over it for a few days and then sprayed salt water over it, then back to driving over it. Kept doing this for a couple of weeks, pulled it up, hosed it off, rolled on a heavy coat of oil based white paint, no primer, scraped it with a paint scraper then rolled on a heavy coat of black gloss latex paint. It didn't take but a summer of heat and rain and it looked old enough to replace which is when I sprayed it with a semi gloss wrought iron colored laquer.

    It's looked newly old for years.

    Pedro the Mule - Or I could chew on it with these old mule teeth

    1. husbandman | May 17, 2009 03:35am | #6

      That's a really good idea!

  5. User avater
    EricPaulson | May 17, 2009 02:32am | #5

    ponytail did something like what you may be looking for.

    Maybe a shout out to him will help you.

     

     

    "When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking." — Sherlock Holmes, 1896

  6. User avater
    popawheelie | May 17, 2009 03:59am | #8

    Thanks for the suggestions. I was thinking I could could use my rotory hammer with a chisel bit in it.

    I'll try just about all your ideas and see what happens.

    I don't have a gravel driveway but I still might try running it over.

    I'm excited about this fence. 

    I included a pic off the net. It is taller than I want but you get the idea.

    I think they are pretty when they dip between the posts.

    "There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."
    Will Rogers
    1. DanH | May 17, 2009 04:12am | #11

      That URL is bigger than the picture.
      The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith

    2. KenHill3 | May 17, 2009 04:28am | #12

      In addition to the salt water and acid, maybe you could periodically go pizz on it.Which brings to mind another idea that could be a lot less labor intensive on your part- maybe take it and lay it out in a livestock pen. It will most certainly get kicked and peed upon a lot.I like the idea of putting it on the drive and running over it a bunch or dragging it around. Or take it to rock quarry and have their machinery or cat tracks drive over it for a while. Just thinkin' out loud.

  7. try50772 | May 17, 2009 04:48am | #13

    After reading the replies, did you consider salvage steel? Around here we have a few yards that are sitting on tons of steel scrap that they had before the market dropped out. I have seen, good, bad, and ugly, but for your use it really doesn't matter.

    You may even find someone who scrapped out some old fencing and you could simply cut down to size and add your touch to it.

    1. User avater
      popawheelie | May 17, 2009 05:08am | #15

      Good idea. I asked at the one yard but they have stopped letting people look around. I guess it doesn't pay for them to sit on it.

      I figure they are on the wrong side of town.

      I know of another one I'll try. Thanks!"There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers

  8. brownbagg | May 17, 2009 04:49am | #14

    got any grand kids

  9. User avater
    popawheelie | May 21, 2009 04:20am | #16

    Just wanted it to come up on my email. thanks!

    "There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."
    Will Rogers

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