Woodgraining Method/Material

[Don St Peter]

As promised, I am attaching pictures and detailed instructions for woodgraining. I did this job in 2001 and it has survived quite well.

Good Luck

Don

METAL WOODGRAINING

Notes: (1) Wait times specified between coats are critical to a quality end product.

(2) Always “bring” a wood sample along so you know what the finished product will look like. Work on the technique with the sample until you get the effect you want on the real thing. If you mess up on the real thing just wipe it off and do over.

(3) The basic process is the same regardless of what “model” you are doing. Colors ( and technique) described herein are for a 40 Ply. Use colors and technique appropriate to your model.

Basic Material

1.Old Masters brand woodgraining base eggshell enamel, walnut in color. Available from Diamondvogel.com Webb site.

2.One pint black walnut wiping stain

3.One pint natural walnut wiping stain

4.Acrylic enamel clear coat ( Note: requires a hardener to be mixed with enamel). Use OMNI AU High solids urethane clear coat # MC 161 with the same hardener # MH 168 mixed with two parts MC 161 to 1 part MH 168. Product is made by PPG. See steps below.

Instructions

Prep dash & other moldings filling any holes with “all metal” ( use hardener in brown tube). It works well to use masking tape to back side of part before filling, especially larger holes. Sand the all metal with 150 to 180 grit sand paper before it gets too hard.

Fill pits, voids, pin holes with “fill and sand” by (dupont) Acrylic Primer Surfacer 131S Gray. Apply 2 coats then sand with 180 grit; then apply 2 more coats & sand with 600 grit.

Apply metal glaze polyester finishing and blending putty. Apply and sand per instructions. The name of the glaze I used is Evercoat.

Fill any blemishes with Red Lacquer Base glazing putty. ( Available from NAPA ). As you can imagine surface prep. will dictate quality.

Using eggshell enamel thinned as necessary with mineral spirits, spray one coat then let dry to tacky to touch then spray another coat. Let parts set for one (1) week before proceeding, preferable under some heat source like heat lamp or even the sun. Remember to start your sample.

After one week apply black walnut wiping stain using a small spray gun under slight pressure ( preferable adjustable pressure gun ). Use technique that deposits small drops of stain on surface. If you have no such spray gun apply small spots of stain with a toothpick. Using a small paint brush ( about ½ “) dabbed in stain and brushed on. Remember to bring your sample along.

Apply stain in horizontal motion. If you don't like appearance wipe the stain off and go again. A different effect will result if you wipe surface with mineral spirits and apply stain over the wet surface.

Let the black walnut wiping stain dry for a full two weeks before proceeding with the next step.

Using a brush, apply neutral color wiping stain. Apply in horizontal strokes. Using a very slow turning variable speed small drill and a cloth disk about 1/2” wide, stroke the work with a full vertical motion. This will give the 40 Ply woodgrain effect as delivered from the factory. Note: Dress any undesirable areas out with a cotton que tip. Remember to bring your sample along.

Let work dry for a full two weeks after neutral stain application.

For protective coat use “ OMNI AU High Solids Urethane Clear coat # MC 161 with the same hardener # MH 168 mixed two parts MC 161 to one part MH 168. Mix well and spray on 1 coat & let it dry to tacky then spray on 2nd coat liberally. Remember to bring your sample along.

The clear coat dries to extremely hard after 16 hours max, so it is important to wet sand with 1200 grit after 12 hours max, sanding out any blemishes, bugs specs, or other imperfections from the surface. After sanding it is important to buff with rubbing compound using a buffer wheel turning 1500 to 2500 RPM. Rubbing compound 3M “ perfect-It II” # 05973 or “ Perfect-It III” # 05937 works well. Apply and buff per the label.

Done

[oldmopar]

Looks good and the directions with materials is great

Ed

[RobertKB]

Thanks a million for posting. I think I am going to try that on my '48. Your dash looks gorgeous. Did you do the dash in the car or have it out? Dumb question I know, but if I don't ask, I won't know.

[Don St Peter]

Dash and window moldings were removed from the car and chrome/nickle pieces removed from the dash. Since these areas are so visible I thought it was worth the extra time and effort.

Don

[Fluid drive]

Don:

I greatly appreciate the time and obvious knowledge that you so kindly shared with the rest of us by posting these instructions.

I will try this method on the next project I tackle - If I am allowed to live that long!

Do you know Gerald Elwood ? He used to woodgrain lots of parts years ago and used to be active in the plymouth and W.P.C. clubs.

[Don St Peter]

I do know Gerald Elwood. Since we are both from Kansas, I ask him if I could take pictures of his 40 Ply back when I started my restoration project in 2001. I picked his name up from the Plymouth Bulletin and he was the closest to where I lived in Wichita Ks. I have since moved to Florida. What an experience that was to see all his restorations and to meet ( and work ) with such a knowledgable gentleman! To make a long story short, I did my woodgraining project under his supervision, hence the instructions I published with his authorization.

From what I have seen and experienced Gerald is the typical "run of the mill" Chrysler product owner.

Don

[Joe Flanagan]

Don,

Thanks for posting that. I'm going to try to do my own dash and that information is really useful. When you wrote "neutral wiping stain" did you mean "natural" wiping stain?

[Uncle-Pekka]

Thank you Mr. St.Peter,

The above posting is the best and most professional woodgraining instruction I've come across anywhere. This should be fixed as a "sticky" on the board, so that it would be easier to find.

I would like to ask a further favour: should you have pictures of the working phases, e.g. wiping the natural walnut stain with a cloth disk on a drill - Would be useful & interesting.

Thanks & regards,

Pekka

[Don St Peter]

Sorry Pekka:

I've always regretted not taking pictures along the way.

A couple of things I will re-mention is (1)“bring” a wood sample along so you know what the finished product will look like. Work on the technique with the sample until you get the effect you want and then do the real thing. If you mess up on the real thing just wipe that section off and do over. (2) use a "very slow" turning small drill motor with a cloth disc about 1" dia. and 1/4 to 1/2" width and slow stroke only downward to get the vertical effect. (3) you can get the small speck effect you see in the pictures I posted, by using a toothpick.

Thanks for the post

Good Luck

Don

[Cpt.Fred]

great post! now i can explain my dash to all those people who don't want to believe that it's all metal no wood:rolleyes:

would you mind if i copy-pasted your thread in a german forum, because we had some discussions there recently about how to wood grain correctly...?

that would be great!

thanks,

frederic

[Don St Peter]

Cpt Fred:

It would be great if you put this info out to anyone interested.

That is exactly what Gerald Elwood ( guy that taught me ) would want for sure.

Don