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  #1  
Old 12-13-2018, 04:46 PM
BT55 BT55 is offline
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Default Removing Light Dents from a Guitar Top

Can anyone provide detailed info on removing light dents from a finished guitar top?
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  #2  
Old 12-13-2018, 05:46 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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Steam the dent, I can give you a link if you want where I have done one.

Steve
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Old 12-14-2018, 08:12 AM
packocrayons packocrayons is offline
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I'd love to see a link as well - the top of my build is a little dented from handling throughout the build process and could use touching up.

I assume it's just a wet cloth and an iron?
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Old 12-14-2018, 04:02 PM
Shuksan Shuksan is offline
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Steaming out dents on an unfinished top with a wet cloth and an soldering iron definitely works as long as the wood fibers aren't cut.

Steve - Just to confirm, dents can be steamed out even on a finished top? Do you know if it would work on a water borne finish?
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Old 12-14-2018, 06:22 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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It’s tricky, totally comes down to the type of finish, example I have tried to steam a dent on a taylor top knowing it was uv cured finish and it barely did anything, so remove finish, steam, perfect,refinish.

On a a Maton I recently did, which were finished in nitro and no problems, just my rag sticks to the surface every now and then, so follow up buff and polish

Steve
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Old 12-14-2018, 06:35 PM
Shuksan Shuksan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mirwa View Post
It’s tricky, totally comes down to the type of finish, example I have tried to steam a dent on a taylor top knowing it was uv cured finish and it barely did anything, so remove finish, steam, perfect,refinish.

On a a Maton I recently did, which were finished in nitro and no problems, just my rag sticks to the surface every now and then, so follow up buff and polish

Steve
Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.
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  #7  
Old 12-15-2018, 10:22 AM
BT55 BT55 is offline
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Default Removing Light Dents from a Guitar Top

Would the steam method work on a newer D18e without removing the finish?
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  #8  
Old 12-15-2018, 07:15 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BT55 View Post
Would the steam method work on a newer D18e without removing the finish?
Yes, just slowly, I did a HD28 just last week, the issue you will find, being nitro finished the damage area reaponds very slowly, so I steamed an area over the period of two days, every hr steamed the dent.

At completion the area I had been working on, had imprints of the cloth into the surface. It had to be wet sanded and buffed to remove these marks.

Steve
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  #9  
Old 12-16-2018, 03:40 PM
Alan Carruth Alan Carruth is offline
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I've used a hair dryer with some success. Wet the dent, and allow the water to soak in a bit. Use the hair dryer to heat the area. When the water dries up, wet it again, while the wood is still hot, and dry it off with the drier. Sometimes it helps to repeat several times. A cardboard mask can help restrict the heat to a small area.

The two main questions with dents are:
1) as Shuksan has said, are the fibers broken, and
2) how fresh is it?

Wood 'gets used' to being dented the longer you leave it, so the sooner you catch a dent and get some water on it, the better the result is likely to be. Often just water will do it.

If the fibers are broken you're not likely to get a good result no matter what.

Finish is a complication. Some finishes, such as shellac, will bubble up if they get hot, or discolor. The hair drier at least allows you to keep an eye on things and stop before they get too bad. Finishes are supposed to be water resistant; that's their job. A thin film of varnish or shellac will often conform so well to a dent that the water can't get in. You may need to prick the finish with a needle to get water to the wood. This, of course, makes other problems.
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  #10  
Old 12-16-2018, 10:58 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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Even after dent steaming, its not unusual to have to do some sanding and filling in with paint.

Classic Example

I finished this Maton this morning, you can see, even after steaming the dent out, I had to do a lot of drip filling to build the area back up and then a final spray, a slight UV difference is still happening, which will be visible for a month or two.

Steve

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  #11  
Old 05-19-2019, 04:33 PM
viento viento is offline
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Default dent removal

I just acquired a Yamaha FG512 with an open peghead.
There is an ugly dent on top IŽll have to flatten - if possible.
Would water and heating with a soldering iron do the job?

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  #12  
Old 05-19-2019, 05:58 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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You could try, nothing really to loose, i personally do not think steam will penetrate a yamaha finish, however the process does introduce enough heat to allow the fibres to relax, so you may get some improvement

Steve
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  #13  
Old 05-19-2019, 10:27 PM
phavriluk phavriluk is offline
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Default a guess

I'm guessing that the sharp edges of the dents suggest that a broken surface at those edges will allow moisture to enter the dent and the soldering iron will steam the dents. Maybe.
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  #14  
Old 05-20-2019, 01:25 AM
viento viento is offline
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Thanks for your support!
IŽll give it a try.
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Martin D28 (1973)
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Hoyer 12-string (1965)
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and 4 electric axes
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