Hi guys I'm building my own av-furniture, and at first it was really easy to choose a paint scheeme. My setup is a Pioneer 5090 (uk model) plasma, and speakers are KEF 5005.2 - both in high gloss black. But since everyone is doing this colour, I fear that i would grow tired of it. So i made a googlesearch, and found some inspiration. I like the colour, as well as the texture of this mobile. So i thought i might be possible to copy this to my furniture - but how would i do this? - paint it, and sand it with very rough sand paper to get the brushed look, or? Other ideas are welcome. Just for some motivation, the furniture is going to look like this (it's 75% done). The unit it being made in 16 mm thick MDF, and measures a total of 165 cm x 43.2 cm x 61.6 cm (W x H x D) http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mbel.png][/IMG][img=http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8292/mbel.th.png] The idea is to cut and glue/screw alu sheets 0.3mm thick and lay it over it like this: Hope you get the picture. The black areas are "doors" made of speaker cloth glued on a wooden frame, so i can both access my av-components, and use my remote without using an ir-extender or opening. If i don't make myself clear, please speak up, and i'll try and explain in greater detail if needed. Some sentences may seem odd, but i'm Danish, and it's been a while since i've wrote in english
What you want is brushed, dark-grey anodized aluminium. Painting would never look like this, atleast not that fine in detail. Another solution could be adhesive foil, with a texture like it printed on it.
You could sand it to give the surface the correct look & texture, but you'd have to paint it with a thin single coat of paint to let all the grain show, which would be very easy to scratch.
Not as dark as the example you have given but the best way that I can think of to get that effect on wood would be to use some of this -> http://www.mnpctech.com/BrushedChromeFilm.html
I haven't tried this idea, but maybe the look can be had by first painting in a charcoal/dark grey enamel and then a thin top coat of black enamel... Then the lot can then be baked to harden, and when fully cured, carefull sanding to achieve the effect, with just a tad of the charcoal showing through to make the grain stand out. A clear coat on top it to seal in & protect the brushed goodness = brushed black finish on anything you want.
Thanks for the replies guys. I don't know where to get it anodized I have access to a professional autopainter, who would originally paint the whole thing high gloss black. Have any of you tried working with aluminium to get that raw look? - my origen AE x11 case has the same texture, but is matte silver - would like to have it in titanium black also.. with the texture..
Seems like a bitch to anodize aluminium. It requires a lot of amps for my parts (4-12 A per SQ.Ft.) However, anodizing is only, as i found out, a measure of creating a surface that dye can "hang on to" and protect the aluminium. It's out of the question for me to anodize, so i thought if i can make a rough surface using some sanding paper, can i dye the the metal to look like i want? In my quest, i found this : ="http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html" Hope some might have a use for it.
What you could do is to first sand the alu. This needs to be done in a linear action. There was a guide here on bit on how to do it, but I can't find it. The method was to clamp down the alu. piece. then make a jig for the sanding block to make the "scratches" parallel. After brushing/sanding you could try to find some transparent black paint. I think they are called candy colors in the industry. Window tint (Spray, not film) may work as well. This will give you the brushed look, the right color and protection. It will have a slightly glossy surface, though. I suggest you get some scrap pieces and test out a few methods.
I sounds good though. I just like that it's not plain glossy, but it also seems to have an underlying texture, which make it stand out. Would be a good idea. I should be able to get some auto-grade paint from my contact. Thanks! If any have some advices or idea, please speak our mind!
