Steaming out dents

[Tomm Williams]

I recently acquired a 1977 Kay kdg88 as a beater guitar but am getting hooked on it. It has a couple of small dents on the back of the neck, one of which is bugging me. I've considered attempting to steam the dents up but really don't want to cause a bigger problem. Is this as straight forward as it seems?

[Ned Milburn]

If the dents have been thereally a long time, I think you'll find steaming is not fruitful. Rather, it would be best to fill and level.

[Rodger Knox]

Originally Posted by Ned Milburn

If the dents have been thereally a long time, I think you'll find steaming is not fruitful. Rather, it would be best to dill and level.

I agree with Ned, but it wouldn't hurt to try steaming. I've used a soldering iron and a wet rag to remove dents from an unfinished spruce top. Put a corner of the rag on the dent and heat it with the iron for a few seconds. You can repeat the process, but you won't get much after the first attempt. I'm assuming the dents are through the finish and you'll be able to get the wood wet, otherwise there's almost no chance of it working.
Filling the dents with CA and sanding it smooth would be ugly, but it is a DIY appropriate for a beater.

[Howard Klepper]

I don't see any reason to think that the length of time a dent has been there affects whether it will steam out.

OP: post photos.

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

I don't see any reason to think that the length of time a dent has been there affects whether it will steam out.

OP: post photos.

As other sage fellows have stated on this site, the repeated process of humidification and drying affects wood. Just like a piece of wood, once warped can rarely be fully un warped, probably due to change at a microscopic cellular level, the same is true for dents.

[SteveS]

I am with Howard on this, I would give steam a try.

[printer2]

I would use a clothes iron rather than a soldering iron.

[Tomm Williams]

Well I gave it a shot with a clothes iron and a wet cloth. Helped a little but didn't eliminate them. Oh well, worth the effort.

[SteveS]

Give it a try with a soldering iron. You can add more heat/steam right where you need it. I have done it several times with great success.

[pops]

A clothes iron will heat the whole area and you only want to heat in the dent. Try the soldering iron. It may not come all the way out, but will help. Keep moving the wet towel and do quick touches with the soldering iron in the dents.

[Quickstep192]

I've not had the nerve to do it on a beloved instrument, but I've done it on furniture. I put a drop or two in the dent and let the compressed wood absorb the water and get wet. Then I put more water on until it forms a blob that stands above the wood. Then touch the very hot soldering iron to the blob without letting the soldering iron touch the wood. The blob transfers the heat down into the wet wood and vaporizes swelling the wood back into it's (almost) original shape. As someone else said, doing it a second time brings it up a little higher, but not much.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by pops

A clothes iron will heat the whole area and you only want to heat in the dent. Try the soldering iron. It may not come all the way out, but will help. Keep moving the wet towel and do quick touches with the soldering iron in the dents.

Not saying to iron out the dent, the clothes iron has a nifty little pointy section that can be used on dents. I like the idea of the close iron as the temperature would be under 500 F, seen a few guitars that people tried to get the dents out and scorched the wood.