The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Wood graining dash

I have pulled the dash and garnish moulding out of my old Packard...Yeh I know it's a Packard but its heartbeat is right. Anyway, it is a faded faux woodgrain pattern. I have the kit to reproduce this woodgrain but have several question about it's usage. If you have some experience using this "lost" art please respond and I will ask several questions if you don't mind. BTW the kit is from "Woodgraining.com".

My local True Value paint department has a person who could walk me through the process. Try the personell in your local paint store for advise. Be fairly warned, you will want to practice two or three times before you do the real job

After a very steep learning curve dealing with 2k etch primers, urethane primers, base colors, top coat clears, when to/not to use putty, good and not so good sandpaper, flash times with activators and reducers, learning how to use a spray gun, plus the actual laying down of the wood grain pattern itself, I think I got it figured out. The "Grain-it Tech." guys (parant company of "Woodgraining.com" are great people to work with. So now on to the job. If I ever learn how to post pics I will show you guys what it looks like. Thanks for the help on this part of my build up.

If this is being applied with a roller that picks up the paint/grain from an imbossed plate, how does one deal with compound curves and returns like where the metal is folder back in around the instrument cluster and around the glove box? Looks simple enough for a flat surface but curve it!!
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Good question. Rollers are indeed used, there are several differnt sizes and are very soft. They will remind you of your girlfriends 38DD's. You pick up the ink or woodgraining on the roller then just use light or heavy pressure depending on the shape of the surface you are "printing". You start and stop on 220 grip paper turned grit down. On a compound curve like garnish molding you start your inking with let's say the upper 1/2 of the roller. You go one revolution of the roller, then rock the roller to the bottom 1/2 and return. Once you get the hang of it you will not believe how good it looks. Large or wide surfaces where you would have several parallel lines of ink you again use the sandpaper. You just put it down over the fresh ink and then you have a straight edge for your next inking line. This process, according to "Grain-it" was used by just about all the car manufactures in the US from the '20's to the '60's. They get around $1200.00 to do a dash back to orginal for you, so I decided to try it myself with one of their kits.

I think saw a vidio of the process a couple of years ago but my confuser and dial up are to slow to download it here at home.
Let us know how it turns out.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

If my girlfriend had 38DD's I would'nt be playing with old trucks ! :p :p :p :blat: :blat: