We decided to create our cemetery columns out of wood. We needed something a little more durable up here in Michigan. The extra weight of the wood also helped us battle the wind. This article assumes you have carpentry skills and will not be teaching you how to build wooden columns, rather it examines the technique used to age objects out of wood. Please be extremely careful using power tools. Accidents can cause serious personal injury. In this side by side picture, you can see the difference between a built column and one that has been aged. The painting techniques used are the same as when aging a stryofoam tombstone. The big difference is cutting into the wood and making it look old. You can also see the inside edges are decorative. This is easily done with a router and the wood holds the detail. You can also create hollow columns and use the same techniques mentioned in previous projects to light up the columns. This is lit with just one light. The production line is in full swing. A hand held belt sander was used to dig, groove and dent the wood. The pillars are made out of a wood called MDF. It's a heavy, durable, cheap wood that is pretty easy to shape and not produce wood chips. However, you will notice a vacuum hose attached to the belt sander. MDF creates a lot of dust and even though we were working outside, it was best to collect the dust. While working with styrofoam is easy to age, and we will continue to use it for our tombstones, we enjoyed trying a different medium. It is more durable and details can be added using a router. With a little more time, you can make look just like stone!