The best I can think of is for you to prime it with some spray version of Kilz, which may PARTIALLY obscure the grain that really says "wood", and then use one of those kinds of sprays with a hammered metal finish. There used to be one called "Hammerite" but it may not exist anymore. There definitely still is something, though. This is going to help achieve something of a hammered, or possibly galvanized look, which will be kind of industrial and loft-like.

But I'm pretty sure that a "chrome", per se, look is going to be hard to make look real, and good on that kind of scale in that kind of way, on the piece that's pictured in this post, at least.

Good luck!

I am sure you will find that the croming spray packets you can get from good auto parts stores will make it look good enough. That is to say you understand how to spray paint without making it look like you've spray painted (i.e. dribbles, thicker dots, and uneven finishes)

OOOO and as for the comment above me. Yes it does exist my company uses that stuff on our chutes. And i've used it on my trailer, thats probably a better idea than my idea! Go with that!

Bow to Curtis, God of Paints and Finishes. The man knows of what he speaks.

You can't actually chrome wood. Anything you do will look really fake, although I lean toward Curtis' suggestion (I'm not familiar with Hammerite, however).

That said, now that galvanized metal has been mentioned, perhaps you could cover the wood in the galvanized metal (tedious but quite doable), seal the seams really, really, really well, and then do a chrome finish. Perhaps the auto body spray paint route by taking it to an auto body place.

The only other way to get rid of the grain would be to prime as Curtis suggested, then spray with an acrylic clear coat, using several coats - sanding in between - to arrive at a slick finish similar to a lacquer finish. Then try a chrome spray paint on that.

The fumes are deadly. Be wise. Wear a mask.

Let us know your choice of technique and then how it turns out.

On the other hand, be really creative, to hell with the chrome, and silver leaf the things. Boy, now that would be nice.

The 9th Avenue/Port Authority area couple in Smallest Coolest last year used mirror paint on some of their furniture. That could be a cool compromise.

Jean: Fabulous idea. Sometimes I miss entries and hadn't seen that one. Now I have to find that paint myself.

I think this is the best idea so far. Good call

How about getting get metal legs somewhere and chrome- painting or mirror painting them? then you wont be fighting the wood texture at least...

Me again, not to be annoying but I'm simply idle here at the moment.......apparently the mirro paint only works on glass so it isn't good for the trestle table application but certainly something to considering using elsewhere

okay, so bear with me as i am not sure what kind of a substance would be best here, but what if you took a spackle-like/wood-putty-like substance and coated the thing lightly to "fill in" or cover the wood grain----something to give it a more synthetic, less porous surface. and THEN chrome painting it....

there's bound to be some sort of plastic-y putty that would give it a pretty smooth finish....

just a thought...

I haven't used this stuff myself (was looking for something to put on a table and came across this), but it looks like it might be a good alternative to painting.

http://www.alsacorp.com/products/sheetingfx/sheetingfx.htm

You'll need to sand it very fine, then paint it with a lacquer finish (white, with about 5 or 6 coats, sanding in between coats). This will give you a nice smooth finish. Once that is complete you can finally apply the chrome spray paint (also in multiple coats). That should work and not look too cheap. But it's also extremely time consuming.

I think any effort to reproduce chrome is not going to look good on those trestles, ditto mirror paint. Both of these require a perfectly smooth surface to look decent.

The only way to get a smooth paint finish on wood is to shellack the wood to seal it, sand, apply an auto primer/filler spray paint, sand, use auto body filler on cracks/joints/scratches, sand, apply 2nd coat of primer/filler, sand, apply 1st coat of base color, sand, you get my drift- a time vaccuum.

I think the best way to get the effect you're after is to lightly sand and apply a hammered finish metal spray paint as curtis suggested. Or paint the trestles an unexpected color. Or buy metal trestles- LOL.

Dutch boy makes an "instant chrome" spray. It's very inexpensive I actually got t from Kmart. I used it once and have since "instant chromed" several little metal items in my apartment. It works well on metal as long at you prime and sand, but I'm nor sure about wood.

good luck

If your trestle is made of a soft wood, such as pine, it will dent and scratch very easily. So, even if you should somehow figure out how to get a chromed mirror-smooth paint finish on it, it's not likely to last.

Emily is right. Skip the 5 coats of white paint and shellac first. I did this on dining chairs and it works great. I've also had amazing results with Hammerite on some old light fixtures that were painted renters white but looked very cool with the Hammerite finish.

I wonder if the Hammerite would work on an ugly brass chandelier I have? I had been thinking about painting it matte black.

i think even an alchemist would not take on the tough order of turning wood into metal - let alone shiny metal. If I were you, I would simply apply a nice ridgefilling base coat, then paint/spraypaint the trestles the same color as your walls, which appear to be grey?

That way they'll disappear into your space and bring the eye more to the glossy glass top of the desk, which will seem more elegant.

To achieve the smooth finish, like many have already said, you need to mask the wood grain. This can be done with a variety of options. Plaster of Paris works well, as do joint compound, bondo and some generic wood fillers. My choice in doing things like this is the plaster or joint compound for cost reasons. Wood filler or bondo seems to only come in small tubes or tubs and cost a bunch, a bag of plaster or joint compound (setting type, not the premixed stuff) is pretty cheap at your favorite home improvement store, and I always seem to have a bag around from previous wall repair work. Once you have a thin coat applied and sanded back to the level you want, apply a primer to seal the plaster/compound, Kilz in the spray can works well, or the brush on kind, but you have to be careful of brushmarks. Then you have a smooth, hard, sealed, primed surface to accept whatever finish you wish to apply. Proper surface prep makes later steps easier and helps produce a nicer finish. Flaws in the surface prep telegraph through all later steps and undermine your later work and final finish.

Try Thomas' Liquid Stainless Steel. It's stainless steel in a paint form. You can use it to paint furniture or even update old appliances.

I concur with Jackie's suggestion, multiple primer coats, sanding in between, clear acrylic lacquer spray, then try chrome finish. You could run a test on a small piece of pine first to see if you can achieve the effect you want. UNDERSCORE, wear a respirator.

As far as I'm aware, Hammerite, IS still fairly easily available (at least in the U.K. anyway).

You can get it either from automotive shops or large D.I.Y. supermarkets.

As the name suggests, it gives the effect of hammered metal, the same company do another version 'Smoothrite' - the smooth version.

Once either has set, the coating is fairly tough.

I have even used the Hammerite, with thinners sprayed through an airbrush.

A word of warning though, if you do use this technique, DON'T leave the airbrush, as soon as you've finished, immediately spray through it Hammerite thinners.

The more, the better.

Once this stuff sets, nothing seems to shift it!
No, you can't use ordinary thinners with it for any purpose, it has no effect on the paint.

I hope that this is of some help to you, if not for this project, then maybe for future reference.

T.T.F.N.
The Leewit.