Wood Working Tips

Tips on Solid Wood Repairs

I am presently working at a well respected and quite popular cabinet shop. How popular? Well some of our stuff is actually being used in the Pentagon, Vegas casinos and other well-known places.

A lot of cabinet places tend to particle board with a veneer or melamine top layer. Sure it may look nice, but it is still not solid wood, and the customer will notice, especially when they lift it up.

If you do a lot of solid wood work at home, you may want to pick up some of these tools and products.

1) Carpenters glue – surprisingly strong and won’t wreck your wood like screws or nails.

2) Chisels – Always good for chipping away excess wood.

3) Sand paper – 180 grit is pretty good for a nice smooth finish.

4) Palm Sander – Makes it a lot easier than using the old elbow grease.

5) Tape – Just to be used like a clamp.

These tools come in very handy, but we have specialized tools as well. One of our tools is a “Boat Grinder”, which you place it on top of your gouged or chip wood, and it drills out a canoe shaped divot. The next tool is a “Boat Maker”, which of course makes your little canoe shaped pieces. I am not using technical names because I prefer layman’s

Terms, as I am sure you do too.

So if you have a chip or gouge or even a chip in your wood, simply boat it out going with the grain of the wood. Then fill the hole with some glue and place your little boat into the hole (matching the wood type and grain) then tape it down with some basic fairly adhesive tape. Wait around 30 minutes, then sand off your boat so that it is level with your piece and then put a little putty, just to fill any tiny imperfections you may have.

When I was first taught this way, I thought it was stupid, but it really works and if done right, it is very hard to tell where the repair was made.