Is there any way of removing dents in planed pine (not including sanding or planing them out)? The pine in question is a set of stairs going up to my loft. Its the horizontal surfaces that have some dents. The dents have been there for a few years. I wondered if there was some trick such as filling the dents with some liquid or other so that the wood swells up just in the place where it has been compacted... maybe finish off by sanding etc...
Thanks
AL
I've heard that making the dent wet and then applying heat (with an iron or something) can make the wood swell. Never tried it though - and don't complain to be if you end up with iron shaped marks on the stairs ;-)
Others on here will no doubt have more advice (and hopefully experience!)
Darren
I was advised the same thing by an experienced joiner; he reckoned even a pretty deep dent would succumb to the iron trick. (Never tried it; in the end I resorted to polyfilla followed by paint instead)!
If you think about it it makes sense; when you dent timber you are not actually losing any material, you are compressing the fibres; so what the iron is doing is 'reflating' the compressed area.
Would be interested to hear how you get on!
David
I've often used hot water and it'll rise back; on waxed surface you may lose some sheen/need to repolish.
You can try a steam iron through a tea towel on this as long as they are just dents and no material has been lost.
Have the iron on the steam setting and use the tea towel folded twice. Lay the towel over a dented area and apply the iron fairly firmly but not sliding it around. Try for about ten seconds then lift iron and towel to look.
Allow a short time for the fibres to swell and then repeat if necessary. I've found this to work quite well as long as it isn't rushed.
You may not get it perfect, but should be able to improve it.
Yes.
Very yes.
No.
The trick is some variation on laying a damp tea towel over the surface, then ironing it. It's not necessary to dampen just the dent, the effect is it "restore" the timber, rather than to "raise" all of it.
My father who was a time served Cabinet maker used the steaming trick, as the other posts have said, lots of times and it always worked for him. It was a well used ' trick of the trade' which he taught me although I never followed him into cabinet making.
Dave
What about one of those steam cleaning machines? The ones that work like a wall paper stripper?
Dave
Provided that it can deliver heat and steam to the area, then possibly.
An iron is simple though.
Dont know, my dad always used a wet rag and an old flat file heated up in gas ring. Oh and a damp rag with old flat iron when dealing with veneer.
Dave
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