Removing a dent from wood

Re: Removing a dent from wood

William Duffield, on the Cohansey


>Steam iron. Put a piece of damp, white cotton or linen cloth between the iron and the wood. The steam generated from the cloth will force its way into the wood and expand the crushed fibers.

If the fibers are broken, instead of just compressed, you may need to use some putty, or glue and sawdust, or even a "dutchman" patch, made from one of your offcuts, watching grain orientation very carefully.

Steam it out...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA


>Take a moist towel and place it over the dent. Them take a iron (for clothes) on medium high heat and place it on the towel the steam created from the iron sould remove the dent if it's not too deep.

Good luck, and oh yea, you and your new chisel suck!

Re: Removing a dent from wood

Sean Evoy


>Thanks, William! That is a huge relief. I'm off to give it a shot. Maybe I won't use the new clothes iron, though .... :-)

Re: Removing a dent from wood

William Duffield, on the Cohansey


>One more detail. You didn't mention what species of wood you are working with. If it is oak, or another light colored wood with a lot of tannin, you should use deionized water for steaming out the dent. Otherwise, you may leave black spots on the surface of the wood, from iron salts dissolved in the water.

Re: Steam it out...

Sean Evoy


>Thanks! I'll give that a shot.

The chisel is one of those purchases that I haven't had a tiniest bit of buyer's remorse over. It's massive, for one thing, and the handle works as advertised: the shape and the way you hold it really does help make straight cuts. My first few mortices were pretty tentative, but the more I have used it, the easier they have become and my confidence has increased. My next one will likely be a disaster 'cause I'm getting too confident, but I'll soret that mistake out when I make it :-)

Thanks for the tip,

Re: Removing a dent from wood

Sean Evoy


>It's air-dried cherry, which has proven to be a bit brittle while morticing. Will this be one of those problem woods?

Re: Removing a dent from wood

William Duffield, on the Cohansey


>You shouldn't have any significant problems with cherry.

Re: Steam it out...

Denny


>I've also had good luck fixing small dents using a soldering iron applied to a wet towel. Just rewet the towel if it stops steaming to avoid burns.

Denny

Re: Removing a dent from wood

Sean Evoy


>Thanks William, Scott and Denny. Your suggestion worked. Intellectually I understand why this worked, but it was still almost magical to see the dent disappear. I actually laughed out loud in amazement that something so simple would work so well. There is still a small imperfection, but I think that it will pretty much be invisible after I plane and finish the leg. Thanks for saving me a tonne of time.

I prefer the soldering iron too

bill tindall

Re: Removing a dent from wood

Bruce, a MN Galoot


>The inverse of your results can also happen. Take a piece of wood and dent it, like with a hammer. Plane it flat. Wet that surface and watch the formerly dented area now stand proud of the surface.

Bruce

*small imperfection*

Jim Reed @ Tallahassee


>you don't get many of those on factory built furniture. It is the sign of hand craftsmanship!

Re: Steam it out...

Paul M. in San Diego


>I also have used a soldering iron to "pop" out a dent. If the dent is a little deep, then add localized water, allow it to soak in for a bit, and then hit it with the soldering iron to give it a little bit more of a stronger "pop"

I've done the exact thing when making mortises by hand. The lesson I learned? Do the moritses *before* the final smoothing to allow for some defects and blemishes to be removed. For mortises, you need a rough size and the stock needs to be absolutely square. But you don't need the outside of table legs (for instance) to be at their final dimensions before the mortise is made.