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.

 

[hughie]

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.

with soft wood it works very well, with some hardwoods its darn near mission impossible and may take several days

 

[John K Jordan]

with some hardwoods its darn near mission impossible and may take several days

I've occasionally found it helpful to use a plastic squeeze bottle and soak the dent with water a few times first.

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

In post #8 I mentioned how to embellish wood pieces by converting indentations into raised areas. The process is called ukibori. An interesting and easy technique that'll have lookers wondering how it was done.

Search Youtube for "ukibori techniques".

 

[Alan Weinberg]

The process is called ukibori.

very cool. Looks pretty simple but ingenious. Guess it could be done w a mallet before hollowing a piece? Have you done it?

 

[robo hippy]

I have used it many times. I did try to steam out some dents in an oak floor that had been there for years, and after several steamings and pre soaking it, I think most of it came back up. I have a small iron, teflon coated, from my days of model plane making for the Monocote heat shrink cover for wings. It was ideal, and small enough to get into concave surfaces. I did prefer to use a damp cloth over the spot. I did steam out a dent in some plyboo/bamboo ply, and a spot about 3 inch diameter steamed up, but after drying, that huge lump sat back down.

That Japanese method, I think translate to some thing like frog/toad skin. They do use a round tipped instrument to "tap" in the spots/warts and sand/plane down till the bump is almost gone, then steam the warts back up. I have not tried it.

robo hippy

 

[Dana Paul]

I do a lot of pool cue repair, including reconditioning shafts that have been banged against pool table legs, lights, or crashed on the floor. If there is a dent in a shaft that requires too much application of the hot soldering iron to a folded wet cloth to risk warping the shaft, then I just roll up a pea-sized wad of paper towel soaked in water and leave it on the dent overnight. Works, too!