If you have googled any sentence with the words "wooden crates" contained somewhere within the sentence you probably noticed the several DIY pages showing instructions on making some vintage this or that using used wooden crates. Many of these projects are quite creative and eye-catching that you almost want to jump out of your seat and embark on a similar one yourself.  The problem, however, is that you cannot access these vintage looking wooden crates!

If you are in such a situation, you need not sulk at being closed out of this vintage club. You can also easily boast of a vintage-looking glamorous project that you achieved using new crates. Follow the steps below and you can age your new wooden crates easily and get that vintage look you desire in your project.

Roughing up the wood

Since banging the wood and throwing the crates around may damage the crates, you will need more subtle techniques to rough up the surface of your wooden crates. First start by sanding the exposed surfaces lightly all around. Next, you need to make repeated subtle impressions on the wood. You can use a thick bag filled with screws, or a metal chain, to bang repeatedly on the surface of the crate all around. This creates little random depressions. Sand gently once more without eliminating the depressions completely -- maybe just making them shallow. Next, take a metal that has a dull tip and make fake nail-like holes randomly on the surfaces. Make sure they are not too many- maybe four or five clusters here and there. Again sand gently.  You can also take your hammer and hammer random points on the crates to create hammer-head depressions. A final roughing up trick involves using a large screw to create streaks on the grain by dragging the thread across particular boards. There are many techniques you can apply in this phase to create impressions and dents in the wood. All this should be finished off by a light sanding again. Make sure you sand all edges of the new crates to create a whorled, rather than sharply edged, look on the crates.

Staining

The purpose of the depressions and impressions in the wood is because the stain will catch and collect within these depressions. For a good vintage look, you will need wood stain of the proper colour. A good idea would be to combine ebony with dark walnut since these two together can bring out a very nice vintage look of aged wood. Remember to use quality stain that permeates wood thoroughly to eliminate uneven shades. Once you have applied stain evenly on your new crates, finish off with a nice seal if you desire that sealant luster on your not-so-new-anymore wooden crates. And there you have it -- new wooden crates that look vintage-ready for your DIY project.    

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