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Steaming out WOOD dents and KTM-9?
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Author:  Pete Licis [ Mon Jan 09, 2006 5:26 am ]
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Besides the finish problem I've posted about in the last week, there's also another slightly puzzling thing that might perhaps be related to KTM-9.

Steaming out dents doesn't seem to work! It's never failed me before, but trying to remove some dings on the neck (Mahogany), nothing much improved. I used a wet paper towel and soldering iron. This has always worked before. This is also the first time I've tried it with KTM-9. Could KTM-9 be more impervious to water/steam? Anybody else have this problem?Pete Licis38726.5818981482
Author:  Skip Beach [ Mon Jan 09, 2006 5:43 am ]
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Pete,

I have no experience at all with KTM-9, but the last time I tried to steam a dent out of a top that had a few coats of Tru-oil varnish on it, the finish bubbled up & got pretty ugly. Probably was due to too much heat - foolish & inexperienced. After copious sanding & then drop-filling the small dent, it all worked out OK but I am gun-shy to try steaming dents again on a partially finished guitar.

After this steaming issue & considering your other recent KTM9-related problems, are you planning to ever try using it again?

Skip
Author:  Michael Dale Payne [ Mon Jan 09, 2006 5:50 am ]
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Steaming oput dents in the finish? or the wood?

I dont't know of a finish that will expand with steam but wood is another mater.

When I have to pull up a dent in a top I sand back the finish around the area. Steam up the dent then repair the finish on that area. If I have to fill a dent in only the finish I will drop fill.
Author:  Pete Licis [ Mon Jan 09, 2006 5:55 am ]
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[QUOTE=Skip Beach] After this steaming issue & considering your other recent KTM9-related problems, are you planning to ever try using it again?
[/QUOTE]

Actually, you bet I am. It's too bad that the problems I had happened on a real guitar, but KTM-9 has proved to be a great finish based on the numerous test swatches I did with a sample they sent me years back. Of course, there's the well documented issue of being less hard than lacquer, but to me at least, the hardness issue isn't a show-stopper. It's too nice to work with compared to solvent based finishes (spray can) that I occasionally use for non-guitar projects.

Looking at the even bigger picture ... there are LOTS of happy OLFers using KTM-9 and none of them have observed the weird problems I had. I seem to be the one to find odball problems with all sorts of stuff. I'd be a good beta-tester!   

Regarding steaming out the dents, I'd like to hear from other people who've used the KTM-9. I have no clue if my difficulty can be attributed to the finish. If it could, I'm assuming that the only likely mechanism would be that KTM-9 is more impervious to water/steam, and doesn't let the wood underneath soak up the moisture and swell back to "uncrushed shape" as well as with nitro. No data on that yet - pure speculation.Pete Licis38726.5828009259
Author:  Pete Licis [ Mon Jan 09, 2006 5:57 am ]
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Yes, everyone, I should have specified I'm talking about steaming out some WOOD dents in the finished neck. The title of the thread is now fixed.

Any other time I've tried that on other guitars, the wood springs back to level or almost level and is barely noticable.Pete Licis38726.5831712963
Author:  Skip Beach [ Mon Jan 09, 2006 6:04 am ]
Post subject: 
Hi Michael,

For clarification sake, the top dent I was struggling with, was in a top that had been dyed with water-based anniline & I didn't want to take it back to bare wood if possible, due to difficulties in matching color. It was my 1st guitar & I thought I could get away with steaming the wood dent through the finish - of course the water didn't penetrate the finish & the wood never got wet, duh. And the finish did bubble up a bit. I learned a lesson that day. I've steamed numerous dents since on bare wood of course

Skip

Author:  Michael Dale Payne [ Mon Jan 09, 2006 9:08 am ]
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If the wood deformation is not real noticable I would drop fill with finish. KTM9 is pretty good about not having wittness linees if you soften the area first with some DA. Drop fill and let it setup over nite then level and buff out a week later. If you look real close you (as in the luthier) will notice the the light deformation in the wood but even the most critical clients are not likly to.
Author:  Don Williams [ Mon Jan 09, 2006 11:29 am ]
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Pete, one of the purposes of a finish is to protect the wood from water and other things. You can't really steam through the stuff, unless you remove the finish. if you have a dent that happened after the finish, you're better off filling with finish, or refinishing, or removing enough finish to get some steam in there, but doing that can risk trapping water under the finish surrounding the area. I would drop fill the spot with more finish.
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