fixing dents in pine

[Richard Clements]

I'm making a box pine chest and my clams left some small dents, I read an article a while ago but can't find it now on using water and an iron to get them out, any ideas?

Richard

[MikeG]

It's a pretty simple principle and procedure. Dents are crushed wood cells. Apply a damp rag over the dents then rest a steam iron on it and it forces moisture into the cells swelling them.

Notes,

The wood in the area will quite likely swell higher then the surrounding wood. Do not sand the area until the wood has dried or you are likely to knock off the over inflated wood and end up with a depression in the wood that nothing will fix.

Get your own steam iron, they are cheap enough. The better half would certainly frown on the procedure if you used one for normally in service to iron clothes.

If the wood fibers are actually broken you can still get good results but if it is a case of missing wood the process won't help.

[Preston Andreas]

There are times that I keep my iron on "cotton" and on hold. I am one of these guys that always seem to put dents in wood no matter how hard I try to be careful. You can always sand, but then you leave a divot.

For a small dent, I spritz or take a drop of water off the end of my finger and apply it to the dent. Always let it set a few minutes, refreshing the drop to let it absorb. The take a piece of damp cotton cloth and put it on top of the dent and apply the iron to the cloth over the dent. You read in articles to be careful not to burn the wood, but, I find that you can remain in contact with the damp cloth over the wood for a good amount of time without burning. In fact, I have never burned the wood. You may need a couple of applications to get the desired effect. If you are really effective, the dent goes to convex. Also, I have really crushed the wood fiber, and although the "iron" trick doesn't totally restore the wood to the natural state, it goes a long way to where you don't have to do a lot of sanding and still get a noticeable concave surface at that point. If you can, wait a day for the moisture to come to equibrilum before sanding the dent, or you will still have somewhat of a concave dent. In production, --- sand it right after the iron has been applied. No matter what, unless you have dropped a 50 lb. anvil on the wood, the result is much better than just sanding out the dent, or heaven forbid, trying to fill it.

[Phisherman]

Steam. It makes the wood swell. You can use a damp rag and the tip of an iron.

[Larry Jaques]

Pine? Bondo, 80 grit, RBS stain, and poly, of course.

Errrm, just don't post a pic, OK? ;)

[Edwin Pawlowski]

You'll get no sympathy from me, Richard. You should not be leaving those clams in the boxes. They probably made the dents in an attempt to escape. Clams don't have a lot of options so they bit into the pine box sides with their shells in an effort to fling themselves to freedom.

Clams are best kept in tub or bucket with water and sand. Happy clams don't dent things.

F R E E T H E C L A M S

[Hoyt Weathers]

On antique and WWII rifle gun stocks, I use a drop or two of tap water on the dent in dry wood, then a covering of old terry cloth and the tip of an electric iron rotating around the rim and directly on the dent. Repeat as appropriate, but be cautious. Try it on a sample first. The tip of the hot iron can and will scorch the wood if you are not careful. Works great for sealed and unsealed wood.

Hoyt W.

[patriarch]

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in news:0qq4d.7590$ [e-mail]:

STEAM the clams! Then serve with linguini!

[mac davis]

maybe the box will have pearl inlays? nah.. that's oysters, right?

Mac

[mac davis]

steam the clams over the dent, while you're cooking.. *g*

Mac

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 15:13:50 GMT, mac davis calmly ranted:

CLAMS GOT LEGS!

"Honey, why does this table always reek of dead seafood?"

-------------------------------------------------- I survived the D.C. Blizzard of 2003 (from Oregon) ----------------------------

Comprehensive Website Development

--------------------------------------------------------

[George]

Clams make pearls.

Even steaming, however, will probably leave traces of crushed fibers which won't take a stain properly. If staining, set it up, plane or sand it back until a wipe with mineral spirits shows it same as the background.

[Frank]

Or if you do post a pic, sign it JOAT.