dmc wrote:
In article ,
AL wrote:

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...


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 ;-)

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