I could use a masterclass on how to raise dings from wood.

Do you steam them or something similar?

If they wood dent is only "pressed in", and not "cut" or the grain fibers broken, steaming works well.

Take a well-dampened wash cloth set it on the ding, and gently touch an iron to the cloth. It will steam through to the wood, while protecting it.

It will raise "most" dents prety well.

You may need to touch up the finish a bit, maybe not. I have NO idea how this works on something like the Remington high gloss finishes....

Good luck!

for small dings I use a wet rag and a butter knife- lay the wet rag on the ding, heat the butter knife with a propane torch and then lay it on the rag, works quite well most of the time.

www.duanesguns.com

When you have a finish, prick the dent with a pin in several places, then put enough drops of water in the dent to fill it up. now put the tip of a soldering iron in the little puddle and let it boil away. You'll have to do it quite a few times. Often the finish will cloud up but look fine after setting overnite.

Gentlemen

Mark, you've almost got it right. Instead of boiling the water away you need to turn it to steam and force it into the fibers of the wood. This is what causes the expansion back to the original.

Usually just pricking the finish so the water can penetrate is adequate. If the dent is large enough to be able to hold a puddle of water you may have to do this several times.

Using a damp cloth and an iron works well because it makes steam and contains that steam so it has to go into the wood as it expands.

Thanks gents.



Any extra precautions when steaming an oil finish?

Yes, keep the rag damp and do not burn the wood..and get all the finish off the spot that you can prior to application, then soak the spot with a bit of water until it won't take anymore, remember any remaining finish works against the process, so get all you can..

The wet rag is your protection against scorching the wood, and the means to make steam and the heat drives the steam into the pores, swells the wood and pushes it out, your objective is a bump that can then be sanded flat with paper and a block, then apply matching finish....

If the indention is a dug out chunk of wood then you will have to use a filler, not steam, several types of filler are available, but some glue and sawdust from the stock makes a pretty good matching filler for minor repair and a plug or piece of wood may also be needed to go into a hole, so be sure the wood color matches and the plug is cut to match the grain..

Such repairs are time consuming and should be done with great care and a proper job is hardly visible under strong light..

A black permenent marker can be made to look like grain and cover up a world of connections and mistakes when properly applied, smeared and finished over.....

Ray,
I have tried a number of times to use glue and sanding dust to fill a void. All I ever get is a dark, real dark, patch. What gives with that?

Jim: This is no help on your stock problem, but your tag line about trying to order around someone else's dog reminds my of something my father did when my sister was visiting. He was trying to get my sister's little dog to come inside before a storm and of course the dog was ignoring him. He tossed a little pebble at the dog, and just as the pebble hit him, there was a tremendous clap of thunder. The dog wasted no time in getting inside the house! After that, my dad had no trouble getting him to come; you don't mess around with someone who throws lightning bolts! Brady