Story by Ed Shuler
Photos by Bob Love

Early Saturday morning, January 28th, a dozen or so TRAACA members met at the Flying J truck stop to have breakfast before traveling to Neal Davis' shop in Quincy for a wood graining demo. It was a nippy morning, but Neal had a propane heater blasting inside to make it tolerable.

After a brief tour of the shop, which was chocked full of antique vehicles in various stages of restoration, it was time for the demo. Like so many procedures that I've never observed but wondered about, wood graining metal parts was a mystery to me .And, as is true of many, the process is relatively simple, but the artistry required is what separates the men from the boys.

Now here's how it's done: Neil showed us the piece to be wood grained - Norm's Model A dash board that had been sand blasted and with a coat of the desired color. He then showed us plates a little larger than a license plate that were etched in various wood grain patterns. He covered one of the plates with a water soluble (another surprise) ink and scraped off the excess. Then he brought out a large roller, which was similar to a lint roller but much larger in diameter. The roller was also fairly soft and rubbery which allows it to follow depressions and contours. He then carefully placed the roller on one end the dashboard and rolled the pattern onto the piece for a length of only a few inches. But that was a beginning.

Before continuing with the process, he would place a strip of paper over the termination point of the roll, holding it in place with small magnets. The roller had to be washed off and the plate re-inked before continuing with the process.

Neal pointed out that the ink is water soluble so mistakes can easily be washed off and done over again. It's a painstaking process to say the least, but once the job is done to the satisfaction of the critical eye, the work is clear coated and presto - the wood grained piece is ready to install. Neal also showed us some techniques for dealing with smaller pieces and square corners, but you get the idea! I think it'll be some time before I attempt to wood grain anything but at least I've got an idea of how it is done!