dents in basses

[Dawkinzz]

On 2 of my basses there are 2 dents, u can slightly see the indside layer one of them and on the other the finish is just lots of little cracks around it

Is there anything I can/should do? Can it lead to any

[daffy]

These are war wounds my friend - take pleasure in them and make up very cool stories about how they came about.

Seriously though, I have repaired a few dents in my time for other people in instruments and also in furniture, and the way it is generally done is to steam the dent - where the varnish is broken the wood absorbs the water and expands almost back to normal. Then you let it dry a little and fill with clear epoxy filler, followed by colour matched thinned varnish, sanding in between with finer and finer sand paper. Finally I use diamond paste and a cloth buffer on a power drill.

Lots of hassle, but a good result, however IMHO leave the dents alone.

[Dawkinzz]

ah ok, so it wont lead the wood rotting or any other side affects that may harm the bass in the long run?

[daffy]

No I've never had a problem with the tiny amount of liquid involved - that's why you use steam and not soak it in water or something like that.

If you know a panel beater, french polisher or luthier then ask them about the filling/varnishing/sanding process to get a mirror finish.

[pkr2]

Originally Posted by daffy

No I've never had a problem with the tiny amount of liquid involved - that's why you use steam and not soak it in water or something like that.

If you know a panel beater, french polisher or luthier then ask them about the filling/varnishing/sanding process to get a mirror finish.

Steam is not the way to go. The water evaporates much too quickly from the heat.

I suggest that you use distilled water. Municipal water with chlorine can't be good.

Just carry a drop of water on your fingertip and deposit it into the dimple. Add another drop every minute or two, as the wood soaks it up. If the finish is unbroken, you may have to pierce the finish with a needle in a couple or three places within the dent.

You can then level the dent out with super glue in as many applications as needed. After the SG hardens, a single edge razor blade works well as a scraper to level the surface. Work carefully to scrape only the SG. You can form a very slight bend into the razor blade with your fingers as you scrape. The slight bow allows you to pinpoint where the scraper is working. Finishing up with a cloth buffing wheel on a Dremel Tool at a slower speed, using jewelers rouge, should make it unnoticeable.

[daffy]

You can go water as well, but steam absolutely works just fine - I have done it many times myself on various projects and a few times on instruments.

The heat and humidity of the steam actually causes the wood to swell faster than plain water alone - the idea is NOT to end up with it too wet. Just don't put it right into boiling hot steam as you could mess up the rest of the finish.

But as I said before - I would pretty much leave them alone and not worry about them.

[floopy]

Originally Posted by daffy

You can go water as well, but steam absolutely works just fine - I have done it many times myself on various projects and a few times on instruments.

The heat and humidity of the steam actually causes the wood to swell faster than plain water alone - the idea is NOT to end up with it too wet. Just don't put it right into boiling hot steam as you could mess up the rest of the finish.

Just curious, how do you apply the steam to the bass?

thanks

[XansNiceSweater]

Originally Posted by Dawkinzz

ah ok, so it wont lead the wood rotting or any other side affects that may harm the bass in the long run?

Whoa! Does this happen!?

[daffy]

Originally Posted by floopy

Just curious, how do you apply the steam to the bass?

thanks

A constantly boiling kettle - you have to find one of the ones that don't shut off automatically. Steam can cause horrific burns so you have to be ****really***** careful, but I actually use my hand to find the best place to hold the instrument - if you can keep your hand there, then you can keep your instrument there as well.

And to the other poster, no the small amount of water or steam used in the swelling process won't rot the wood - the worst that can happen is that you bubble the existing finish if the steam is too hot. On furniture that is french polished you will mess up the polish big time with the water, but you will need to repolish anyway.

[Dawkinzz]

i think i may just leave them as they are, as long theres no long term damae involved in having them im ok

thank you for all your help, maybe one day in the future if im brave enough i may try the steam technique

thanks again!