Steaming out a dent in wood

[Alan Weinberg]

I should have taken before and after pictures but I didn’t. I turned a small hollow form and must have bumped it against something because it had two linear dents about 1 cm long, too deep to sand without leaving a depression. So I googled and read about steaming out a wood dent. The articles used an iron on flooring. Instead, I dampened a small piece of t-shirt in water and applied my heat gun. Did it a couple times. T-shirt and wood got pretty hot. As the wood dried, the dents virtually disappeared. A little sanding now and all will be fine.

 

[Michael Anderson]

Like magic, right? I had to do that on the recent Huon Pine calabash I made. No idea where the dent came from, but steamed right out. Whew.

 

[John K Jordan]

I’ve done that several times over the years, not just on wood turning but other things, first heard of it, ah, can’t remember!, but I used my mother’s clothes iron the first time.

More recently, I found that one of my larger soldering iron tips with flat sides and no point was perfect to localize the steam in a small areas. I too used a small piece of cotton t-shirt material, re-dampening and steamed until the dent was gone, Like Michael said, “Magic!”

I think the last time I did this was with cherry, maybe 10 years ago.

Hey Alan, you could dent it again to get some before and after pictures!! 😁

JKJ

 

[Rick Moreton]

If a piece is small enough, I wait for the next time I make my wife a latte and use the steam wand on it. I can hold the piece with both hands since the wand stays in place.

 

[hockenbery]

I use a wet cloth and an iron for clothes.

 

[hughie]

I have used it often, saved my bacon many times

 

[Doug Freeman]

Been doing it for a couple of decades. Found an old small folding handle travel clothes iron at a garage sale that I keep in the shop for this.

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

There's a process to embellish tunings by purposely making a pattern of decorative indentations in the wood. Sand or lightly turn the piece just enough so the indentations are gone. Then hold it over a steaming pot of water on the stove and magically the indented areas raise up.

Don't remember the name of the process and can't find any sample pieces to post.

 

[Lou Currier]

What if a finish has already been applied? Can you still steam out the dent 🤔

 

[Alan Weinberg]

What if a finish has already been applied? Can you still steam out the dent 🤔

Yes.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

Alan, I'm sure you were very cautious with the heat gun, but I wonder if one couldn't use a (less dangerous) hair dryer? If the piece were big enough, an iron might still work.

 

[Alan Weinberg]

Alan, I'm sure you were very cautious with the heat gun, but I wonder if one couldn't use a (less dangerous) hair dryer? If the piece were big enough, an iron might still work.

Iron for flat surfaces, but since I was working on a bowl dent, I used a heat gun on low setting. Hair dryer might work also.

 

[John K Jordan]

What if a finish has already been applied? Can you still steam out the dent 🤔

Yes, but probably will require some smoothing and refinishing the area for blending. Oil finishes are easier that film finishes. A small-surface heating element can be helpful to localize the area that needs rework.

BTW, I did find a "mini" heat gun with a much smaller blast area.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

Interesting. I had no idea.