Situation:
Someone comes up to you and says:
And you say:I tried to change a headlight in my car. I had trouble getting to it and accidentally broke the retainer clip. They're made so cheap these days! To get to the clip, I had to remove the radiator hose, but my screwdriver slipped and accidentally punctured the hose. To get to the other end of the hose, I had to remove the skid plate and then loosen the condenser, but I accidentally bent some tubing. No big deal. I can just replace that, but when I went to remove the water pump (it was in the way), it slipped and I accidentally bent one of the fan blades. WELL, getting that fan out was no walk in the park and anyhow, to make a long story short, it turns out that the quickest way to fix all of this forces me to lap my valves. Do you think I could just lap them on my kitchen counter? It looks pretty flat.
"Uh, if you can't replace a headlight, I don't think you want to be lapping valves. Take it to a mechanic."
But when someone comes up and says
we're all (including me) so quick to respond withI was rubbing out a finish on some new kitchen cabinets and I guess I hit a soft spot because I accidentally sanded through the first layer of plywood in a few spots. How do I fix this???
etc etc etc......WELL, the first thing you want to do is carefully cut around the problem areas. You want to be sure you go deep enough to fully remove the blemish, but not so deep that you weaken the structure. Then you want to come in with a SHARP chisel and carefully remove the blemish, taking away as little wood as possible. The goal is to make a cavity that you will inlay a patch into. Be super careful to keep your edges perfectly straight!
Now go to the bandsaw with a piece of matching plywood (preferably from the same sheet) and carefully resaw a piece just a whisper thicker than the cavity you made. If this is too think, you'll sand through it when trying to feather the edges.
Okay, so now fit the patch to the problem area. Take your time......