How to make wood/mdf look like aged metal or iron

[gablekevin]

I was wondering because im going to have a woodworking friend of mine build a custom case for me out of mdf/wood what paints or techniques should i use in order to make the case look like aged metal i was thinking chrome paint with a layer of like some sort of brown dry brushed onto it. Please help need advice bad thanks everyone

[Zeus]

Just out of curiosity, why are you looking to make wood look like metal? It seems to me that metal would be plenty excellent looking metal and wood would look very nice looking like wood. I am just curious of the motivation. The idea is intrigueing

[crazybillybob]

Check out this thread in the Rookies Nook it's on making a case look worn. He did a nice job on his case and many people posted tips and tricks for weathering.

Rookies nook Worn case Thread

Crazybillybob

[gablekevin]

well for one thing wood is cheaper and easier to work with than metal also lighter in most cases and with a good primer job and minor sanding in can look really smooth so i guess thats one motivation. Also my friend works for a cabinet shop so he has access to any tool imaginable to work with wood.

[Zeus]

cool. Please don't take my initial response as a negative. I was just curious what you were going for. Good luck with your mod. Looks like crazybillybob gave you some pretty good info.

[Bum]

One thing to consider with a wooden case is that you don't get the radiant cooling from the metal transfering heat to the outside. Wood is a better insulator than conductor.

As far as making the wood look like metal, I'd go check out model-making sites. They have huge amounts of experience making all sorts of things look like metal. One interesting one I've seen is actually veneering aluminum foil onto a substrate. Very tedious but the effect was great.

[gablekevin]

thanks for the info guys keep it coming anybody know of any specific projects or faux finishes that someone has done (step by step) i saw this really great technique called medieval armor but it was only a picture.

[Uncle Humjaba]

Umm. How are you going to mount a motherboard on wood? O_o As far as I know, the standard atx motherboard spacer things screw into metal, so unless you're going to make your own...

[malinkie]

One other thing to remember is that wood shrinks and expands with heat... You will also have to watch the humidity in the room to an extent.

The clear coat from painting should stop moisture getting into the wood .

just my two cents

[crazybillybob]

As long as your screws holding down the motherboard (or any PCB) aren't overly tight the Temp/humity expansion of the wood shouldn't hurt any thing. If your really worried us nylon standoffs, They will flex with the wood but not hurt the pcb. (If it's so humid that the wood starts expanding enough to hurt anything you should worry more about electric shorts then expansion!)

As for the heat issues, a good cooling setup (fore thought when planning it) will nullify the fact that wood is a poor heat conductor. If you think about it plastic and bondo are also poor heat conductors and we all use them in building PC cases regularly.

Good luck,
Crazybillybob

Post some pics....Everythings better with Pics.