Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Paul H (PRH) on May 19, 2010 at 2:33am

I can offer two additional solutions that have worked for me. One is to place a small drop of saliva on the dent (works for small dents only). The moisture and possibly the enzymes swell the wood leaving the dent gone or smaller.
For more serious dents a moist rag placed on the dent, then hit for several short durations with a soldering iron has the same swelling effect. A bit of sanding and/or refinish and you're done.
When you've made as many "oopses" as I have you learn some un-do tricks.
My .02 is to try this on a test piece you've dented on purpose first to get a feel for it all.
Hope this helps,
PRH

Permalink Reply by Phil Delpierre on May 19, 2010 at 12:15pm

Once my box is prepped (sanded/cleaned up), I generally give it one coat of tung oil or clearcoat (whatever finish I'm planning on). It' just gives it much more durability as I go through the process of cutting slots/holes etc. Saves time later on, and results in less dings and dents. At that point, I'm not thinkin' finish as much as protection.

Permalink Reply by Slow Mick on December 21, 2023 at 3:58am

In my practice i do not throw away the wood dust from cutting or sanding the wood. I collect it in a can and then use small volumes of this dust, mixed with wood glue (ex. Tidebond) as a filler for dents. Works very good on dark types of the wood ( wood and the dust should belong to the same type).

Before putting this filler mass into dent I put a small drop of the glue in the dent and then put the filler in. When filler is dry (in a day) I process the repaired place with sand-paper of 160 and higher gauge and accurately cover with varnish.