Repairing Dents and Bruises on Wood Furniture

¶ Dents and Bruises on Unfinished Wood. These can be so perfectly repaired before finishing that they will never be found. The first thing to do is to wet the dented or bruised spots with water. Let the water soak in a bit. Then take the point of a sharp knife and heat it over the alcohol lamp until it is red. Stick the hot knife into the wet spot about an eighth of an inch repeatedly but between different fibres of the wood each time. Be careful not to hold the hot blade in the wood so long as to burn the fibres. Don't get the blade too hot. The steam thus produced will swell the wood fibres until they level up with the surrounding surface. Let these repaired spots dry thoroughly, sandpaper and clean up and the surface is ready, for finishing in the usual manner,

¶ Dents and Bruises on Finished Wood. When the finish has not been broken but the wood has been depressed it can often be raised again to a level by treating the spot with heat and cold repeatedly. If the finish is shellac the heat should not be raised above 100 degrees, but varnish will stand 120 degrees. A felt pad should be placed over the injured spot and a hot flat iron should be placed on it for ten or fifteen minutes. Then wrap some crushed ice in a cloth and place it on the spot for about the same time. A water bottle of rubber is best for the ice treatment. Repeat this heat and cold several times and it usually will cause the compressed fibres to raise back to their original level. If this fails there is nothing to do except to scrape off the finish and raise the wood with steam by placing a damp cloth on it with a hot flat iron on top. Then refinish as suggested elsewhere in this chapter for other repairs. Keep a close watch on the hot flat iron however it is used so it will not damage the surface around it.

Next Page: Blisters of Veneer Wood.