Thread: Ding in wood

G'day Marc - Call it patina and leave it alone, that ding is now an important part of the history of the stair case and has a good story to go along with it. Why ruin a good story with a plug repair.


Cheers - Neil

PS I prefer the resin with a spider in it. Don't try and hide it as this hardly ever works. Make it stand out and add to the story. Nothing beats an interesting off beat fix with good yarn attached.

AAAAaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhh!!!!

What ever you do don't drill it and plug it unless you have exhausted all avenues. Nothing looks worse than a repair job. If it is easy enough pull out the offending piece and replace it.

As for Ubeaut - I agree with you totally. In an effort to explain why the hot water only works on dents is because timber fibres are made up of billions of tiny cells that shrink when they are dried during the drying process. When dented the wood compresses more. Adding water "rehydrates" those dried out cells returning them to there original condition prior to drying.

As for scratches, cuts, etc... You will never get these to "rehydrate" as they are broken. Have you ever tried to refill an above ground pool with a tear down one side?

You are better off replacing the piece than repairing it.

My two cents

Cheers

Kris

Hum, yes I must say that was my suspicion all along, but I will give Echidna's suggestion a go, after all I have nothing to lose.
So you like the idea of clear resin with a spider in it? he he a red back would be lovely, may just fit in the very corner. Must post a pic of the staircase I am very proud of it particularly the handrail that is all in one piece. I used over 60 clamps to laminate it one layer at the time over two weeks ... but that is another story

Originally Posted by Marc

A bit radical I know but is there another way short of filling it with epoxy with a bug floating in it?

A couple of years back I went the epoxy route.............wish I'd thought of the bug. The job's OK but boring, a few termites could have created a bit of fun.

Ross

What do you know!.... after a heavy ironing session with a boiling water kettle at hand, the 7 shaped ding is now flat. I can still see a cut along the long side of the 7 but the top shorter cut is now almost invisible since it was a serrated tear and it somehow swelled back. When dry I will give it a good sand and call it quits.
Thank you all, particularly Echidna for prompting me to give it a go!

Just as a side note, a similiar process can be used to emboss. Say for the lid of a box, gently push the wood down in the design you want (owners name?) then sand the top of the lid until level with the top of the indentations. Then use the wet cloth/iron to "raise" the wood, leaving the lid with a raised design. Bit of fun with great results.

Well done and congratulations! My procedure is for small mishaps but steam works wonders with timbre as with bending acute angles lol