Fixing Mistakes

[Dennis Putnam]

Sigh! I've been told that the difference between an amateur and a professional is that a professional knows how to fix mistakes. Time for me to become a professional.

I screwed up royally by transferring a wrong dimension to my plywood cutting diagram. To correct this I joined a length of scrap (lumber not plywood, didn't have enought of that) to the short side (a little over 2"). With some sanding (well maybe more then just some), I think I did a pretty good job blending the exposed side.

Now comes the hard part. Trying to finish it to minimize the seam. I am using birch which is supposed to accept stain well so I am hoping the grain differences will not be very pronounced. Since birch is considered a closed grain wood, my thinking is that I could use a grain filler paste on the whole thing. My hope is that the filler will primarily hide the seam without much effect on the rest of the surface. If I color the filler it shold do even better.

Am I on the right track or are there other techniques for tackling this problem? Thanks.

[Steve Wargo]

Dennis,

This is the way it works... If you can see it before you stain or dye, you'll be able to see it ten fold after. The only option after the stain is applied is to try to do some type of graining feaux finish. Sorry, had you used hide glue, which takes stain and dye, the results may not have been as noticable. Remember, there's always paint. Hope this helps.

[Dennis Putnam]

Thanks for the reply. Actually your words are encouraging. I can't really see the seam except that I can see the grain difference. I expect that the stain will bring out the seam and that is what I want to minimize. I take you don't think the filler will help hide the "holes" that will make the seam more pronounced.

I really don't want to paint (after all I spend a lot on money on the wood) but the location of the seam, when the peice is placed, will be mostly obscured. If the seam shows up then so be it. My main goal is simply to see what techniques help (since I don't figure this will be my last screw-up). I was not aware of "hide glue" so already I've learned something.

[Steve Wargo]

If the seam is not very obvious, then you may beable to do a little creative graining with some dye and a fine brush to ease the transition. I don't think there's any need for grain filler on birch. The other option is to veneer over the whole piece on the front and back. This will eliminate the seam and grain mismatch all together. But if the seam is in an inconspicuous location, probably best to not worry about it. Sorry if the last post sounded crass... I reread it and it came off a little harsh. Good luck.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dennis....Steve is right. I built an oak side board for my wife. I used Oak plywood for the shelves and trimmed the front with solid oak that matched the doors, face frame, top, sides etc. I stained it.......The solid wood took the stain differently than the oak plywood......I tried using a filler....it took stain differently than the oak plywood or the solid oak...........They all look close in color and grain before the stain....afterwords.......Well it was my first piece of furniture! And it shows....