Fixing Wood Defects

[Bill Adamsen]

Uncovered a small defect (see photo) in something I'm making at the sanding stage. Just curious how others might deal with this. It is on the inside of a frame ... finish will be an acetone-based stain with conversion varnish. I'm tempted to mask off with tape and drop in some epoxy and heat, then sand. Other ideas?

[David Helm]

I never think wood should be perfect. Generally hilight defects to show that it is real and actually comes from a tree.

[Jerry Miner]

A little epoxy, maybe mixed with a little sawdust, will do it.

[Mike Henderson]

Generally, when you mix sawdust with epoxy, the result is darker than the wood. Do a trial of epoxy and sawdust on some scrap and see how you like it.

I've worked small splits of the wood into holes like that. If you put a decent sized split in the hole and press it hard with a clamp (and use glue, of course), I've found that it makes a more invisible repair.

Mike

[Peter Quinn]

Is that a door stile Bill? I hit a similar problem last summer, glass door with a lot of time invested. Per suggestion of an astute coworker, I skimmed off 1/16" of the entire stile on a table saw with glue line blade right to the stile/rail intersection and veneered the whole stile, made that the hinge stile so any hair line color difference is behind the door, glass stop covers the other side. Result was truly invisible repair that set me back maybe 1 hour all in.

Just looked at this on the big screen at home...realized its probably a rail, so the simple through cut of the stile is not possible, but you could probably do similar with a router and short top bearing bit like a hinge mortising bit, just a bit more complicated.

[Bill Adamsen]

It is the rail ... but fortunately the inside. I like that idea of the veneer. Were it the stile I'd do that in a heartbeat. I haven't decided what to do ... I did a test with epoxy (on a piece of scrap) and will stain tonight to see what the effect is, and if that works will likely try that method.

[Andrew Hughes]

I would leave it and remind myself to pay more attention to my wood next time.Nothings perfect,Nothing ever finished,Nothing lasts forever.

[Jeff Duncan]

Something like that on the inside I'd just use putty and keep moving. Especially with a stain it will not be noticed by anyone who doesn't already know it's there.

good luck,
JeffD

[mreza Salav]

wood filler of similar color with sawdust (add shellac if it is too dry), especially if that's inside.

In other situations where I had to fix (one was on a curved railing), you can use a carving gouge and cut out (like a scoop) the damaged area, not too deep. Then make a similar scoop of a similar color piece of wood and glue it in place using good pressure of clamp. Plane/sand the excess. It will be nearly invisible.

[Stan Calow]

for small defects, I prefer CA glue over epoxy. With or without sawdust. Usually the color is OK if I am just using BLO and no stain.