Creating a Thin Striated Glaze
Finishers discuss improvised tools and hand techniques for obtaining a pattern of thin lines ("striations") on a finished surface. January 24, 2014
Question (WOODWEB Member) :
I’m doing a project on a writing desk with fluted legs, molded panels and ribbon carving on the drawer front. The base color is white with a soft grey glaze, then a silver pearl topcoat. He wants the usual hanging style glaze in the carvings and details, which are very tight, so I'm using a wet glaze to punch it into the crevices.
The issue is with the flats on the panels - he wants thin light striations. I've been experimenting without satisfaction to get that part. I tried a full bodied glaze base very lightly tinted, but it drags and smears as it gets tacky. I've tried the wet glaze very thin but it drools on the verticals and brushes out to an indistinct haze - like you would expect from a furniture glaze. I was thinking to complete the detail areas, then lock it down with a light seal and dry brush the striations. The seal so the brush doesn't spoil the glaze work on the surrounding details.
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor X:
Maybe try making a comb out of some thin wood with slots cut into it. Then wrap it with a rag wet with mineral spirits. Use that to drag across the glaze. With a little luck it may give you the striations you’re looking for. Locking down the glaze job on the surrounding surfaces might make things easier, just watch out that you don't exceed your dry film thickness limits.
From Contributor B:
Contributor X is on the right track. Take a thin piece of cardboard (not corrugated). Cut a piece 4" wide and 2 1/2" high. On the wide edge, use scissors to cut "V" grooves - cut distance between grooves to fit your need. You'll have to experiment with how high to cut the grooves, but usually 1/2" is good. Apply a medium wet glaze, dip the cardboard in solvent, and do a section at a time, cleaning cardboard after each pass.
From contributor M:
Strie is a negative glaze technique, meaning you apply the glaze and then take it back off selectively. Combing is one technique as suggested above. I usually prefer brushing with a flat short hair brush like a tooth spalter. For the glaze I like to use artists oil colors in tubes thinned with mineral spirits. They brush out better than any commercial glaze I have found but the oil based glazes will work fine as well. You will need to do your samples for whatever coating you are using and test for adhesion. For catalyzed finishes I would do the glazing over a fresh wash coat of sealer and then seal the glaze in the same day to get some burn in of the finish. You do not want to glaze over finish that has cured over the weekend. I like using 2k urethane myself and then I don't have any critical mil thickness issues.
From the original questioner:
I'll certainly keep the glaze comb concept tucked in the toolkit so to speak. Sorry to have been unclear as to the effect - it is the opposite of what the comb will yield - he wants thin light striations of the glaze not light striations in the glaze. I tried lightly stroking a piece of 80 grit across the test panel and burnishing off the glaze but the effect looked like, well, scratches - too sharp. I’m thinking now of a coarse, long bristle brush just damp with solvent with the bristles pressed down flat on their sides and pulled across the glazed surface.
From contributor X:
I think it's just going to come down to finding the right material to wipe off the glaze in order to leave the lines you are looking for. I would try something like coarse Scotch-Brite, steel wool or a Brillo pad.
From contributor R:
This is the way I have had good luck with striated finishes. Cut a 2"to 3" wide strip off of a 1" thick synthetic sponge - like the yellow ones you get in a supermarket. Soak the sponge strip in water until it is softened and then squeeze all of the water out of it. Spray a light even coat of glaze on the surface - a light, even coat is key. Hold the sponge at a 45 degree angle to the surface of the wood so that you are dragging just the sharp edge of the sponge across the surface of the wood. Pull the sponge across the wood, lifting off at the end of the stroke. Wipe the sponge to get off excess glaze from the edge after each stroke. You can also cut small strips out of the sponge to fit in the fields of a raised panel.
From the original questioner:
I need to put the base coat on another test panel! Thanks everyone - you've given me a process to arrive at a solution. My brush thing imparted a texture to the glaze, but didn't pick up enough glaze from the surface for the lines to be visible enough under the pearlized topcoat. I have a sponge, spun booth filter pad, green Scotch-Brite, burlap pulled over a sanding block. I’m going to keep the test panels as display samples of technique. Doing the piece will take less time than all this fiddling but it is nice getting paid to learn!
From contributor M:
You need to use a dry brush to pick up the glaze and constantly clean the brush with a rag.
From contributor L:
Try Zinsser blend and glaze, and Alkyd with a section of a wall paper smoothing brush. You can remove some of the bristles if necessary.
From contributor O:
I'm not sure this truly addresses your problem, but I messed around with a striated type finish when I accidentally spilled a tiny amount of some dry aniline dye onto a wet surface and then used a dry brush to lightly drag the dye across the panel. It produced a look that I'd never seen before and so I kept messing with it a bit. It's probably not the look you want and the aniline dyes are not even close to the color you're looking for. I suppose it most closely resembles the toothbrush splatter technique. I just found the striations it created interesting.
