[welovepainting]

Whats the best way to remove dents, knicks, and scratches from unfinished poplar floor treads? I could of swore I have heard something before about taking and iron and a wet rag. Anyone have some insight?

 

[vermontpainter]

We have done the syringe method and the iron method. Both work well for dents and dings. By introducing moisture, the wood fibers become swollen. There is a limit to how much you can gain.

 

[welovepainting]

Cool thanks for the reply never heard of the syringe method

 

[stansoph]

I have gotten dings and dents out of some gun stocks with one of those small steam cleaner tools. Works really good; it does have its limitations.

 

[Ron 2]

Spit on it...

...in my experience, saliva gives you a greater grain recovery with the iron method than water does. The enzymes in spittle seem to do something "magic" to the wood fibres, particularly on "hard" species like maple. This was shown to me by an old Dutchman 20 years ago...try it and see what you think...

Let it "soak in" well prior to applying the heat; "flashing" with high temperature (cotton/linen setting) also helps, just be quick about it. Multiple applications will continue to increase the "recovery"...until you hit the "end of the line".

I've "gotten back" about 1/8" in Eastern Hard Maple in a few instances using this method, but it really depends on the peculiarities of the grain composition in the damaged area...

Don't know about injecting this with a syringe though... never tried:whistling2:.

Cheers, Ron